


All’s Well that Ends Well [A Modern-Day Reylo/Renaissance Faire AU]

by Rey_KnightofRen



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Banter, F/M, Flirting, Happy Ending, Renaissance Faires, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo happily ever after, Summer Romance, University, undeniable chemistry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25148629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rey_KnightofRen/pseuds/Rey_KnightofRen
Summary: Rey Johnson has one more year left of college before she graduates and has to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, and she’s determined to enjoy her last summer break. When the local summertime Renaissance Faire announces it’s in desperate need of additional volunteers, Rey and her best friends Rose and Finn think, “Why not?” and decide to sign up.Rey assumes she’ll be doing something simple like passing out flyers. Instead, she finds herself in a corset and medieval gown serving up drinks at the Ren Faire’s tavern, The Falcon’s Nest.At the volunteer meetings, Rey immediately clashes with graduate student Ben Solo, who organizes the faire every year with his mother. Rey thinks he’s insufferable and arrogant...until she sees him in an incredibly roguish (and breathtakingly attractive) pirate costume at the faire. As their banter turns more and more flirtatious, Rey realizes she might actually be falling for the man behind the costume.[Inspired by the novel “Well Met” by Jen DeLuca]
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 52
Kudos: 175





	1. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Rey Johnson was pretty sure that if the temperature got any hotter, she was going to literally start melting. 

She could feel the midday sun beating down on her, and she swore she could see wisps of steam rising from the asphalt as she rode her bicycle up the hill. Today was a terrible day to go for a bike ride, but when you couldn’t afford a car and the city bus was running behind schedule...well, the bike would just have to do.

Although Rey was wearing a tank top and shorts (the lightest pair of clothing she owned), she was still drenched in sweat, and her hair was plastered limply against her head under her bicycle helmet. She was going to look terrible when she finally arrived at work, but at this point she didn’t really care. She just wanted to get out of the damn heat. She was already fantasizing about drinking one of those ice-cold frosted lemonades from the café where her best friend Finn worked. 

Even after three years in the small college town of Pinewood, Rey still wasn’t used to the blistering summers here. She’d grown up in London, England, and people often asked her what had drawn her to Pinewood University, a small, private college in the Midwestern United States.

She and Finn had actually chosen to come here not because of the university itself, but because of one of its professors. Pinewood University professor Leia Organa had visited their secondary school in London as a special guest speaker. She’d once been a famous U.S. Senator but had retired from politics to teach at Pinewood and continue her work as an international peace advocate. She’d inherited a large fortune from her late parents’ company, Organa Industries, and had since given it all away, much of the money going to a Pinewood scholarship fund for foster children. 

As foster children themselves, Rey and Finn were immediately curious. They’d stuck around after the presentation to visit with Professor Organa one-on-one, and she’d encouraged them to apply to Pinewood. When they found out they’d both received a full-ride scholarship, Finn wanted to accept right away, but Rey had taken some convincing. 

It wasn’t that Rey didn’t want to go; when she’d seen the kindness and the passion for learning in Professor Organa’s eyes, she knew that Pinewood was absolutely the place she wanted to be. But it was hard to leave London, because that meant she was finally giving up on her family ever coming back for her. 

Rey heard a car honking behind her, and she turned around, annoyed until she realized it was her other best friend, Rose, just saying “hi.”

“Rey Johnson, why are you riding your bike in this awful heat?” Rose called out to her, giving Rey a look of mock disapproval. Rey heard a bright, bouncy song blaring from the car radio (Rose absolutely loved ’90s pop). “You know you can call me anytime you need a ride to work!”

Rey shook her head. “I know. It’s just that…”

_I always feel guilty asking for help._

Rose was the kindest, sweetest person Rey knew, and she’d offered many times to give Rey a ride or even let her borrow her car. But after growing up without a family she could trust, Rey still found it hard to be vulnerable or ask people to help her. 

However, the temperature was absolutely awful today, and Rey decided she’d finally had enough. Rose pulled over and helped Rey hoist her bike onto the car’s bike rack, and then Rey jumped in the passenger seat and sighed with relief as a cold blast of air conditioning hit her in the face. 

“Rose, you are a lifesaver,” Rey admitted, taking off her bicycle helmet and hurriedly trying to brush her matted hair. 

“I know.” Rose grinned. “Plus, driving you to work gives me an excuse to buy that dress I’ve been eyeing in the window for the past week.”

Rey had worked at “The Scavenger’s Boutique” thrift store since her freshman year at Pinewood University. Her boss (who always insisted on being addressed by his formal title, Mr. Plutt) wasn’t great, but Rey really did love the work itself. She enjoyed sorting through all the donations and finding treasures, like the summery blue dress that her friend Rose was referring to. 

Rey finally gave up on her hair and wound it into a messy topknot just as Rose pulled into a parking space in front of The Scavenger’s Boutique on Pinewood’s Main Street. Rey thought Finn had already started his work shift for the day at the café next door, which is why she was surprised to see him peering out from the front window of The Scavenger’s Boutique, excitedly waving a bright green sheet of paper above his head. 

The bell hanging above the door to The Scavenger’s Boutique rang as Rey and Rose walked in, and Finn darted towards them, giving them each a huge hug. 

“I thought you were working today!” Rey said, smiling as she hugged him back. Friends like Finn and Rose always made her day better; she could feel her mood lifting already. “I was going to walk over on my break and get one of those lemonades from the café.”

“I actually am on the clock right now, but Amilyn said I could come over here real quick to talk to you, Rey.” Amilyn Holdo owned the Spark Café, and she was actually Professor Organa’s best friend. She dyed her hair a different color every week and was one of the nicest people in Pinewood. 

“Actually Rose, I’m glad you’re here too, because I wanted to ask you the same question,” Finn continued. He handed them the sheet of green paper. “Somebody just brought this poster to the café. The local Renaissance Faire is looking for some volunteers this summer. And guess what...I think the three of us should sign up!”

“The Pinewood Renaissance Faire?” Rey took the poster and quickly scanned it. She was embarrassed to admit she’d never actually attended the end of summer festival, even though it was the town’s biggest annual event. Mr. Plutt usually made her work that weekend. 

However, she’d always been curious about the three-day festival, with its elaborate medieval costumes — including knights in full armor — and activities like jousting, magic shows, and live music in the tavern. 

“If you volunteer, you get free admission,” Finn added. “Wouldn’t that be fun? Amilyn said that if Mr. Plutt tries to make you work that weekend, she’ll give him a stern talking to at the next Pinewood Small Business Owners Alliance meeting.”

“It does sound fun — what a great idea, Finn!” Rose said as she looked at the poster. “I went to the faire a couple years ago with my sister Paige, and we loved it.”

Finn and Rose’s enthusiasm was infectious, and soon Rey found herself grinning too. Why not volunteer for the faire? Their jobs would probably be fairly simple, something like passing out flyers or helping take tickets at the event. As a college senior in the fall, this was going to be Rey’s last summer in Pinewood. She might as well do this while she had the chance. 

“All right, I’m in,” Rey said.

Finn gave her and Rose a high-five. “Yes! Let’s do this!”

***

The first volunteer meeting for the Pinewood Renaissance Faire was later that week at the university library. Rey was supposed to get off by 5 p.m. that day, but Mr. Plutt kept her an hour late to reorganize a shelf of antique books at the back of the store. Although Rey hopped on her bike and peddled to the library as fast as she could, she was still several minutes late. 

When she arrived, she was a bit flustered and out of breath, but she made herself take a moment to just relax and put all thoughts of her frustrating workday from her mind. She was here to have fun and experience something new with her friends — she WAS going to have a good time. 

Rey started to head towards the volunteer registration table, but she heard Finn excitedly calling her name. She glanced over and found, to her shock, that her best friend was standing behind her wearing a suit of chainmail and a bright red cape. 

“Wow, you look...awesome!” Rey said in surprise. “What’s going on?” 

Finn grinned at her and then gestured to a man standing next to him who was also wearing chainmail. “This is Poe Dameron — he’s in charge of managing all the knights, jousting, and mock sword fights at the faire. He said they needed some actors to play guards for the queen and asked if I was interested!”

Poe shook Rey’s hand. “Hi — you’re Rey Johnson, right? Finn was telling me all about you. We’re excited to have you all volunteering at the faire this year.”

“This is a...really impressive set up,” Rey said, taking a moment to look around the library. She’d known the Pinewood Renaissance Faire was a massive operation, but she hadn’t expected quite this level. The library was filled with people in medieval attire so detailed and realistic it looked like they’d walked right out of a history book. 

“Normally we have a lot more people,” Poe said, which surprised Rey because she felt there already were a lot of people in the library. “Last year we had a big group of seniors from Pinewood University who volunteered, but they all graduated this spring and so we’re running a little short. That’s good news for you guys, though — it means we have more costumed volunteer roles open!”

“This is gonna be so great!” Finn exclaimed, admiring the suit of chainmail in a nearby full-length mirror. He slowly turned around so he could look at the costume from all angles. 

Rey was happy for her friend; she loved seeing Finn so excited about his costume. However, she had to admit that she wasn’t necessarily ready to commit to that level of involvement herself. Wearing a costume and playing a specific character was quite a big leap from passing out flyers or taking tickets at the front gate. She’d never worn a costume like this before, or acted in front of a large group like the thousands of people who came to the Pinewood Renaissance Faire. 

However, Finn looked so happy right now she didn’t want to say anything about her own doubts. So instead she asked, “Where’s Rose?”

“They were really excited when they heard she has experience as a mechanic and is good with technical stuff,” Finn said. “She already signed up to help with the catapult demonstrations. She gets to wear a costume too — here I took a picture on my phone. She just went outside with the other volunteers in her group to check out the catapult setup.”

It sounded like Rey’s friends were already deeply involved in the Ren Faire, and they hadn’t been here more than half an hour. Rey wished she wasn’t feeling so self-conscious and that she could jump in as eagerly as they had.

“Well, it looks like they’re really going to make us work for that free admission!” Rey joked, trying to lighten her own mood. Poe and Finn laughed, but before either of them could respond, Rey heard someone loudly clearing their throat behind her. 

Rey turned around and then abruptly felt her stomach drop. She hadn’t known who had walked up behind her, but she certainly hadn’t expected the man who was now studying her intently. 

_Stars above, he was HOT._ He was quite a bit taller than her, and his shoulders were so broad they were straining his shirt. He was wearing khaki dress pants and a long-sleeved sweater, which seemed like it would be impossibly warm during the summertime. But it certainly wasn’t a bad look. _Not at all._

He had piercing brown eyes that looked like they could stare straight into your soul, and the intensity smoldering there quite frankly took Rey’s breath away. He had medium length, slightly wavy black hair, and she was struck by a sudden desire to reach up and run her hands through it. She found herself also fantasizing about what it would feel like to have his hands running through her hair, and all over—

“Have you registered at the volunteer table yet?” he asked in a voice so deep she felt like she could drown in it. 

Rey knew she should say something, but she just kept staring at him blankly. She’d never had this sort of reaction to a stranger before, and she could feel her cheeks flushing. What was happening to her?

“Uh...not yet,” she finally forced out, her voice squeaking. “I just...uh...got here. Sorry I’m a little late. Had a work thing…”

She finally had to look away from his eyes, because she kept losing herself in them. She was probably making a terrible first impression here. 

“If you could go ahead and register, that would be great,” he said in a clipped tone. “Being a volunteer isn’t just about getting free admission to the faire. We do expect our volunteers to do actual work.”

Rey’s face turned even redder (if that was actually possible), but this time, it wasn’t because of her new and unexpected crush. He must have heard her joke earlier and assumed she was just here for the free admission. 

She felt her sense of irritation growing, though it still wasn’t enough to stifle that delicious flutter in her chest whenever she looked at him. “I was just joking,” she said somewhat defensively. “I came here to volunteer, and I do plan to do my share of the work.”

The man pursed his lips together. “Well, if you think this faire is just a joke, maybe this isn’t the best place for you to volunteer.”

Rey gaped at him; her temper was definitely flaring now. “Listen, who are you?” she asked. 

“I’m Ben Solo — my mom and I organize the faire together every year,” he said. “And you are...”

“Rey Johnson,” she shot back. Why was he making her feel like she was on trial here? “And I’m going to walk over to that volunteer table right now and sign up.”

She turned her back to him and marched straight to the table, and then she hurriedly jotted down her name, email, and phone number on the volunteer sign-up sheet. 

“Do you know what role you’d like to sign up for?” the woman sitting behind the table asked her with a smile. Her nametag said “Hi, I’m Kaydel!” and she had braided, dark blond hair. She handed Rey a sheet of paper with a list on it. “Here’s the jobs we have left; there’s still quite a bit to choose from!”

Rey saw that “front gate ticket taker” was still on the list, but as she sensed Ben Solo’s eyes boring into her back, she felt a spark of stubborn determination. Although “ticket taker” was the least intimidating of these jobs, signing up for that role seemed like it would be letting this arrogant Ben Solo win a battle. She was going to show him — she was going all in on this Renaissance Faire. 

“I’ll do this,” Rey said, pointing to a title near the top of the list. 

“Tavern manager? Oh, you’ll have so much fun,” Kaydel said. “The costume does come with a corset — are you cool with that?”

Rey didn’t know how she felt about wearing a corset, but she was sure Ben Solo was still watching her, so she couldn’t back down now. 

“Yep, I’ll do it!” she proclaimed. She glanced behind her at Ben Solo, who looked appropriately chastised. How could that man be so attractive and so irritating, all at the same time? 

“Welcome to the Pinewood Renaissance Faire team!” Kaydel said brightly, and Rey tried to smile as confidently as she could.

Just what had she gotten herself into?

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/rey_knightofren/50062444176/in/dateposted-public/)


	2. What’s in a name?

“Are you sure I’m doing this right?” Rey called out from the dressing room, her voice muffled by the yards of fabric she currently found herself entangled in. 

She was having her first costume fitting for the Pinewood Renaissance Faire, and so far, things weren’t exactly going...well...smoothly. 

The volunteer in charge of costumes was a Pinewood University graduate student named Armitage Hux. He had bright red hair and eyes that were almost as piercing as Ben Solo’s. He seemed like the kind of person who didn’t put up with any nonsense, but he was nice enough to Rey. 

He handed her an armful of fabric that supposedly made up her costume, pointed her towards the dressing room, and then seemed to think that she knew exactly what to do with all of it.

Well, so far Rey hadn’t even gotten on the ivory-colored shift that would serve as the first layer of her costume. She finally realized she’d been trying to put her head through one of the billowing bell sleeves, and she eventually poked her head through the top of the dress and then her arms through the armholes. 

On top of the shift, she wore a crimson colored skirt with gold embroidery on the hem and a slit up the center of the skirt that revealed the shift underneath. The final piece was the black leather corset with laces in the front, which she was having serious doubts about her ability to put on correctly after the shift fiasco. 

“Are you decent?” Hux called in his clipped accent. 

“Well, I’m dressed, but I don’t know that you’ll be impressed with what you’ll see,” Rey grumbled, skipping the corset for now and slipping on the knee-high, lace-up boots. 

Hux stepped into the room and evaluated her progress, and to Rey’s surprise, he nodded approvingly. “Yes, that crimson is a magnificent color on you. Let’s add the corset.”

“Am I going to be able to breathe in this?” Rey asked a bit nervously as Hux helped her into the corset and then turned to face her, preparing to tighten the laces. 

Hux gave her a disapproving look. “Look, I’m not going to lace you up so tight that you’ll swoon like Elizabeth Swann in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ That’s the scene many of our volunteers confess they’re thinking of before they try a corset. It’s supposed to support you — not constrict you.”

“Are you sure it’s—”

Hux grabbed the laces and abruptly tightened them, and Rey sucked in a sharp breath. The corset felt snug but...just like he’d said, not actually constricting. She turned around to look at herself in the mirror and, in spite of herself, let out a little gasp. 

The leather corset hugged her curves perfectly, and the slit up the skirt added just a touch of saucy fun to the costume. She’d felt so self-conscious about dressing up, but Hux’s choice of costume for her seemed to work perfectly. 

“And that’s how it feels to wear a _real_ costume,” Hux said, and Rey gave a little twirl, watching the skirt swirl out around her. 

“So how did you get involved in this festival?” she asked, and Hux smirked. 

“I didn’t want to; the first year I had to play a knight and I hated it — I lost every single sword fight. But then I decided to switch my major to fashion design, and I got assigned to the costume team at the Ren Faire instead, and now I love it. I also play the evil sheriff at the faire; my character is a rather devious villain, so in case you hear people talking about how mean I am, don’t believe them — they’re just referring to the character.”

Well, that did explain Poe’s warning to her before Hux had called her in for a costume fitting. The fact that he’d winked while telling her to watch out for Hux probably should have clued her in that he was just teasing. 

“And what brings you to the faire?” Hux asked, rummaging around in a bin full of costume accessories and handing Rey some golden bracelets and dangling gold earrings. “What made you pick the tavern specifically?”

Rey slipped on the bracelets and earrings, trying out how they felt. She didn’t wear a lot of jewelry, but as she evaluated her new look in the mirror, she found she actually quite liked it. Hux really did have a knack for this costuming thing. 

“My friends, Finn and Rose, and I all decided to do it together,” she said. “I was just going to sign up to help with the ticket booth, or something simple like that, but Ben Solo was giving me grief when I came in and I kinda wanted to stick it to him.”

Hux snickered. “Well, good for you then. Sometimes he deserves to be taken down a notch or two. I will say that he’s not really a bad guy, though, once you get to know him. We were paired up on a class project once at Pinewood University, and when I got sick with a ghastly strain of the flu, he offered to write the whole 12-page report himself.”

“That’s...well...that’s actually pretty nice,” Rey said. That didn’t sound like the Ben Solo who had lectured her earlier this evening. 

She was embarrassed to admit she hadn’t stopped thinking about Ben since their run-in. She wanted to dislike him and just forget about him, but Hux’s little anecdote hadn’t helped. Ben was making her feel all kinds of confusing things right now. 

“You are radiant,” Hux pronounced after he added one final detail to her costume: a golden sash around her waist. “Even Ben Solo will be impressed. I think you should walk out there right now and show all the other volunteers how amazing you look.”

“Um...maybe not just yet,” Rey said, pulling off the bracelets as her self-consciousness began to creep back in. The fitting had gone better than she’d thought, but she still wasn’t ready to be seen by an audience. “But I’ll definitely be back for the next meeting.”

“Very well,” Hux said. “I’ll store your costume until you need it. But...I think you should borrow those earrings in the meantime. The look really does suit you.”

“I won’t get in trouble will I?” Rey asked. “I mean, I thought I saw a sign that said we had to leave the costumes here after every meeting.”

Hux waved his hand dismissively. “Well, I’m the costume master, and I say you can do it. We’re going to be working you hard this summer — you deserve a few perks.”

Rey took one last look at herself in the mirror, as the gold dangling earrings sparkled. Her smile widened. “You know, maybe I do.”

***

“How ’bout some frozen lemonades, on the house, for Pinewood’s newest Ren Faire volunteers?” Amilyn Holdo grinned as she placed large glasses in front of Rey, Finn, and Rose while they sat at the bar at the Spark Café.

“Oh, this looks divine,” Rose said, taking a long sip of her frozen lemonade and then sighing in contentment. 

They’d just come from the Pinewood University library, and Finn was telling Amilyn all about the jobs they’d signed up for. Amilyn was a long-time Ren Faire volunteer herself; she was the lead singer in the festival’s medieval music group, called “The Resistance.” Today her hair was a lovely shade of turquoise, but she always dyed it bright red for the faire and wore pointed Elven ears. She made all of her own costumes too. 

“Rey, if you’re going to be the tavern manager, I guess that means you’ll be seeing a lot of me at the faire,” Amilyn said. “The Resistance plays a set at the The Falcon’s Nest tavern at the top of every hour.” She placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder and gave him a look of mock seriousness. “And as a member of the queen’s guard, you’d better take very good care of my friend Leia.”

“Wait, Professor Organa plays the queen at the Renaissance Faire?” Rey asked, and Amilyn nodded. 

“Every year since she moved to Pinewood. She also does a lot of work behind the scenes, helping to organize the faire with her son, Ben.”

 _Wait a minute — her son...Ben?_ Rey thought back to her conversation with Ben Solo earlier that evening; he’d mentioned that he and his mother helped run the faire. But surely such an arrogant man couldn’t actually be the son of…

“You mean Ben Solo?” Rey blurted out, before she could stop herself. “Ben Solo is actually her son?”

“Yes,” Amilyn said, clearly a little puzzled about Rey's sudden and intense interest in the topic. “Did you meet him at the volunteer meeting today?”

“Oh yes, we’ve been hearing _all_ about it,” Finn said conspiratorially, and Rey felt her cheeks reddening. So maybe she _had_ spent most of the car ride to the Spark Café talking about her and Ben’s encounter. She really wished she could stop thinking about him. 

There was a little sparkle of something in Amilyn’s eyes, and Rey desperately hoped that the café owner hadn’t guessed about Rey’s complicated crush. 

Trying to divert suspicion, Rey said, “He interrogated me and accused me of signing up to volunteer just so I could get free admission. I don’t think we exactly made the best first impression on each other.”

Amilyn’s expression turned thoughtful as she leaned against the counter. “Ben is a pretty private guy, and he can be a little tricky to get to know at first. He’s very particular about the Ren Faire and how it’s run, due to some of his past experiences. But he’s been really good to his mom since he moved back to Pinewood to attend grad school. Their relationship used to be pretty estranged, but now they’re really close, and they look out for each other.”

Now that Amilyn mentioned it, Rey did remember Leia talking about her son during some of the classes she taught. Rey was having a hard time reconciling the Ben she’d met this evening with the Ben from Hux’s and Amilyn’s stories. 

“He just needs to get away from the influences of that awful professor James Snoke,” Amilyn said, her expression souring. “I hope the three of you never have to have any classes with him. He is literally THE WORST.”

Rose shuddered. “Oh believe me, we’ve heard stories about what a jerk he is.”

James Snoke had a reputation as the toughest professor at Pinewood University, and he was known for being mean and manipulative. He was head of the college of business, and because he had tenure, he couldn’t easily be fired. He always gave way more homework than was humanly possible to complete by the next class period, and he wouldn’t accept any excuses for late work — no matter how valid those excuses might be.

When Rey had decided to double-major in history and business, thankfully an upperclassman had warned her not to take any classes with Professor Snoke. She’d only passed Snoke in the hallway a few times, and even though he didn’t know her, he always glared at her. 

“Well, if this Ben Solo guy is Professor Organa’s son, he can’t be that bad,” Finn said, elbowing Rey teasingly. “Maybe Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome isn’t a villain after all.”

“I did NOT call him ‘Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome’!” Rey shot back, praying her face wasn’t turning red again. “I said he annoyed me!”

“Mmm-hmm.” Finn gave her a knowing look.

Rey tried to smile nonchalantly and stifled a heavy sigh. This might turn out to be a _very_ long summer... 

***

_One week later…_

Although Mr. Plutt complained about the Ren Faire meetings cutting into Rey’s work schedule, true to her word, Amilyn Holdo called him out at the next Pinewood Small Business Owners Alliance meeting, and after that Rey had no problems requesting the time off.

Rey was already realizing just how much work it took to put on a Renaissance Faire. The volunteers would be meeting weekly until the faire in late August, so they could practice staying in character, decorate props and sets, finish up costumes, and take care of the countless other details that went into running a three-day festival. 

Tonight, Rey would be putting on her costume and rehearsing her role as manager of The Falcon’s Nest tavern. Finn was practicing sword fighting with Poe Dameron out on the university lawn, and Rose was learning how to operate the festival’s catapult. This was Rey’s first time to see Rose in costume, and she thought her friend looked amazing: she was wearing dark blue leggings, knee-high boots, a tunic, and a fantastic hat with a fluffy feather in it. 

Before they parted ways, Rose gave Rey a thumb’s up and then followed the other catapult volunteers outside, chatting excitedly about tonight’s demonstration. 

Rey walked into the Pinewood University theatre building, where she’d be rehearsing, and she nearly ran into Ben Solo, who was carrying an armload of papers. 

“Oops, sorry,” Rey said, darting out of his way. She wasn’t in her costume yet, and she hoped he wouldn’t lecture her for not arriving and getting ready sooner. She noticed he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt again and khaki dress pants, despite the heat. 

For a minute it looked like he was going to graciously accept her apology, but as he studied her, his eyes narrowed. 

“Wait a minute...where did you get those earrings?” he asked pointedly, and Rey reached up to touch the gold earrings dangling from her ears. 

“These? I got them here.”

“You mean you...stole them?” Ben’s frown deepened. “Rey, you can’t just take costume pieces home between meetings. All of our props and supplies are very expensive, and with the university cutting our budget for the festival more and more each year, we can’t exactly afford to just go back and replace things that our volunteers decide would be fun to keep.”

“I most certainly did NOT steal them.” Rey took a step closer to Ben and put her hands on her hips, staring up into his eyes. “Armitage Hux said I could borrow them. If it’s a problem, I can totally leave them here, but I won’t let you accuse me of something I didn’t do.”

There was a flash of something in Ben’s eyes — _regret? embarrassment? guilt?_ But before he could reply, Hux swept in and looped his arm through Rey’s.

“Let’s get you in costume,” he said, giving Ben a pointed look. “And yes, I did say she could borrow the earrings. They looked too good on her not to let her wear them out. If they get lost, I’ll pay for the replacements myself.”

Even Ben wasn’t brave enough to argue with Hux, and that was that. 

Before Rey knew it, she was decked out in her costume and was being ushered up onto the stage. It had already been set up with the bar, tables, and chairs that would be inside the tavern during the actual festival. A few other volunteers had lined up so she could practice serving drinks to them and conversing with “patrons.”

Apparently, a panel composed of Ben, Hux, and a woman named Jannah would be evaluating her performance tonight (Jannah also owned a team of Clydesdale horses that would be appearing at the faire). 

“Just start whenever you’re ready,” Jannah said with a nod. The other woman’s smile was warm and welcoming, and so Rey focused on her as she cleared her throat and prepared to perform. 

Kaydel had given her a paper with some pre-written lines she could use, and while Rey had tried her best to memorize them ahead of time, Mr. Plutt had kept her so busy at the Scavenger’s Boutique that she hadn’t had much free time, especially since she was also taking a class at the university. She’d tucked the slip of paper into a cubby behind the bar so she could glance at it in case she found herself at a loss for words. 

The first “customer” walked up and smiled at her (thankfully, it was Kaydel; Rey was relieved to see a friendly face).

“Hello there...and...uh…” Although Rey felt herself getting nervous and started to look down towards her cheat sheet, she saw Ben frowning at her. Blast — he was onto her! Why did he have to be so judgmental?

Determined to prove him wrong, Rey decided to go completely off script. She flashed Kaydel a huge grin and announced, “Welcome to the Falcon’s Nest, a home for weary travelers, wayward rogues, and all lovers of a good time!”

Rey could hear Jannah murmuring approvingly to the other judges about her improvised line, and that gave Rey courage. She grew bolder and bolder as she served up the pretend drinks, and she even began to tap her foot in time to the music that was playing in the background to help set the mood.

She was so confident now that when the final pretend customer — a young man named Ezra who was going to play a wizard at the festival — asked her if she’d like to dance, she actually said yes. 

Rey whirled around and around the stage, dancing faster and faster as the tempo of the music picked up. She could hear people clapping in time to the rhythm, and she felt her fears and her self-consciousness melting away. 

If she was having this much fun at a mere rehearsal, she couldn’t wait to see how much more exciting the actual festival was going to be. She imagined herself standing behind the bar at the real tavern and—

Rey hadn’t been paying attention to the hem of her dress, and as she turned around, her foot caught on her skirt. Unfortunately, she was also close to the edge of the stage when this happened, and in horror, she felt herself tipping over as people gasped. 

Yet before she hit the ground, strong arms wrapped around her, catching her just in time. 

Her heart thudding, Rey looked up and saw that none other than Ben Solo had saved her. She’d admired his broad shoulders before, but she couldn’t help marveling over the fact that he’d caught her so easily. Although she expected him to lecture her for dancing so carelessly, all she saw in his eyes was anxious concern. 

“Are you all right?” he asked in that impossibly deep voice of his, and she nodded, unable to speak at the moment. He kept holding her for a little while longer, and she was tempted to wrap her arms around his neck. Then he seemed to realize that everyone was staring at them, and he quickly put her down and backed away. 

Rey tried to nonchalantly smooth out her skirt, hoping no one could see just how deeply she was blushing. 

Ben returned to his seat, picked up his clipboard, and made a small check mark on it next to her name. 

“Rey Johnson, you’re...uh...on the right track with your character. Great work. You’re free to go for the evening.”

Rey still couldn’t manage to say anything; she was still too stunned by his praise and the lingering memory of being held in his arms. 

She had no idea what had just happened between them, and she was definitely no closer to figuring Ben Solo out. 


	3. All that glitters is not gold

“So, I finally learned why Ben Solo wears long-sleeved shirts all the time,” Rose said as she leaned across the table at the Spark Café, where she, Rey, and Finn were enjoying ice cream sundaes after a Ren Faire meeting. 

Rey tried to keep her expression neutral and not hint at her curiosity, although she wasn’t sure how successful she was. 

She was trying to pretend that she wasn’t still thinking about Ben Solo weeks after they’d first met, but her friends had easily seen through her front. They’d been absolutely delighted by the story of Ben catching Rey when she’d nearly fallen off the stage during her first rehearsal in costume. They were convinced it was some grand romantic gesture, and that Rey and Ben were destined to be star-crossed lovers. It didn’t matter that Rey and Ben continued to verbally spar at all the Ren Faire meetings; everyone else seemed to interpret it as flirting. 

While Rey tried to deny that she felt anything for Ben Solo, she wasn’t sure anyone believed her. She didn’t even know if she believed her own excuses.

“Apparently he’s got this gorgeous sleeve tattoo running all the way up his left arm,” Rose continued, and Rey blinked in surprise. _Well, that was HOT._ She found herself daydreaming about what the tattoo looked like. 

However, instead of voicing those particular thoughts out loud, she remarked, “Why would he want to keep that covered up?”

Rose’s expression turned more serious. “Apparently he’s Professor Snoke’s graduate assistant, and Snoke is the one who makes Ben cover it up. Professor Snoke is super strict about people’s appearances. He makes all his students wear formal business attire to every single class he teaches, and if people have tattoos, they always have to keep them covered up. If Amilyn was in his class, he probably wouldn’t let her dye her hair fun colors either.”

“That’s really sad,” Rey said, and suddenly wondered if some of Ben’s apparent coldness had to do with the fact that Snoke was forcing him to hide who he truly was. Having Snoke as a mentor would certainly make her grumpy and defensive. 

“You know, Rey, maybe you should just have a chat with Ben and let him know you’re tired of arguing and are ready to just go out on a date,” Finn said, polishing off his last spoonful of ice cream, and Rey nearly choked. 

“I don’t need a date with Ben!” she said, perhaps a little too defensively. “But if it will get you to stop teasing me about him, I will talk with him and ask him for a truce. Deal?”

“Deal,” Finn smiled. “But I still think you’ll be dating Ben Solo by the time this summer is over.”

***

Rey had gotten so used to bickering with Ben about one topic or another at every single Ren Faire meeting that it was difficult to picture them having a normal, peaceful conversation. She wasn’t sure that “asking for a truce” would really put an end to their argumentative banter, but she had promised Finn that she’d at least try. 

She knew Ben always arrived at Ren Faire meetings early, long before anyone else showed up, and so she decided to come early too, so that she could chat with him in private. She was worried that if anyone found them talking together that would just fuel the rumors that she had a massive crush on him. 

She didn’t find Ben in the Pinewood University library, so she tried the theatre building next. She slipped in through the back door and was greeted by the sound of piano music playing softly in the distance. 

Intrigued, she crept towards the auditorium as quietly as she could, and to her amazement, she found Ben Solo sitting at a piano up on the stage, his fingers flying across the keys. 

There had been a concert at the auditorium last night, and the theatre staff must not have moved the grand piano yet. Rey had no idea Ben was a musician, and she found herself transfixed as she watched him, remaining hidden behind the curtain on the side of the stage so that he couldn’t see her. 

Ben was playing some incredibly complicated classical piece, and she was awed by the fact that someone who normally seemed so uptight could play with such fluid passion. 

He wasn’t just playing a series of notes; this song was pouring from a very deep and vulnerable place in his heart. He had apparently played this song so many times that he had it memorized, because he didn’t appear to have any sheet music in front of him. He kept his eyes closed, feeling every note in his soul. 

Rey couldn’t help but think that she was getting a sneak peek at the real Ben Solo — the person he felt free to become when no one was watching him or judging him. Right now he wasn’t a rigid perfectionist about the Ren Faire; he was playing simply because he wanted to, and because he loved this song. 

She watched his entire performance, spell-bound until the final note. Rey was so impressed that she started clapping before she even realized what she was doing, and Ben’s eyes immediately snapped open, his expression turning to one of horrified shock. 

“I’m so sorry...I...I wasn’t meaning to spy,” Rey said, afraid that she’d offended him by listening in. She probably should have announced herself sooner, but she hadn’t wanted to break the spell his music had cast over the auditorium. “That...that was really incredible, Ben. Like really, _really_ incredible.”

Ben glanced down at the piano keys, shoving his hands into his pockets. She could tell he was feeling really awkward right now, and Rey felt horrible for intruding on a private moment. 

“I don’t play in front of people a lot,” he finally said, his voice quiet. “Right now I don’t have a piano at my apartment, so sometimes I’ll come here to be alone and play.”

“I can leave,” Rey said, backing away from the stage, but to her surprise, Ben shook his head. 

“No, this is a public place...you have as much right to be here as I do.” He stood to his feet, closing the piano lid. “The meeting’s going to start in about 15 minutes anyway.”

For a long, uncomfortable moment, they just stood there staring at each other. Ben fiddled with his shirt sleeve, and Rey thought she caught a glimpse of his alleged tattoo. She saw a tantalizing hint of black ink spiraling up his arm.

“So...uh...how long have you been doing this Ren Faire thing?” she asked. She was really bad at making small talk, but she couldn’t think of anything more profound to say. Although she wasn’t sure Ben even wanted to chat with her right now, she did find it interesting that he didn’t seem anxious to leave the stage.

“I’ve been volunteering with the festival ever since I moved back to Pinewood,” he said. “But my mom has been doing this much longer. She’d been the head organizer ever since she started teaching at the university. She and my dad used to do the faire together; it was their favorite thing.”

Though he didn’t elaborate further, Rey could see the pain flickering in Ben’s eyes as he mentioned his father. Come to think of it, she’d never heard Leia talk about Ben’s father before, either; it was always just “Leia and her son” or “Ben and his mom.” Rey could tell by the way Ben spoke that something tragic had happened, but she felt it was not her business to pry. If Ben wanted to tell her something, then he would (and he didn’t seem ready to open up just yet). 

Rey did not know what might have happened to Ben’s father, but she did know what it was like to grow up with a haunting feeling of loss. 

Rey barely remembered her parents; they’d been small-time burglars, who’d wasted their ill-gotten earnings on booze instead of caring for their new baby. Rey had spent most of her childhood in the foster care system, bouncing from family to family. Some of her foster families had been better than others, but she never really felt like she fit in. It wasn’t until she met Finn at school that she finally felt like she had someone she could trust and confide in. 

Finn had accepted that he’d probably never reunite with his birth family, and he’d become very close with his foster family, the Syndullas. But Rey had always held onto a small hope that someday her parents would realize they’d made a mistake and come back to claim her. She didn’t want to leave London, just in case they ever decided to start looking for her. She didn’t want to be hard to find.

She’d fantasized about their hypothetical reunion many times — a moment that would be filled with tears, hugs, laughter, and solemn promises to make up for all the time that had been lost. Her parents would assure her that they’d never, ever leave her, and she’d tell them that she forgave them. Then, they would all live happily ever after; maybe not in a perfect, fairy tale sense, but Rey would be happy as long as she felt safe and loved. 

However, when she got accepted to Pinewood University, she was forced to choose between continuing to wait for her family in London and going to school in the United States. And so, she’d finally let that old dream of reuniting with her family die a quiet death, as she’d submitted the final paperwork to Pinewood University and then curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep. 

Rey told herself again and again that she was over it, but any time she thought about her lonely childhood and the parents who abandoned her, she felt tears welling in her eyes. She tried to wipe them away before Ben could see them, but he still noticed, his own eyes filling with concern. 

“Are you all right, Rey? I...I didn’t say something to upset you, did I?”

“No, of course not,” Rey said, trying to smile and push aside her moment of sadness. “Just got lost in my thoughts. Thanks again for not getting mad at me for eavesdropping on you earlier; I really did enjoy hearing you play the piano. You’re super talented — and I promise I’m not just saying that.”

“I think I’m pretty average actually, but...uh...thanks.” Ben glanced away sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. Rey bit her lip; he wasn’t trying to be this hot on purpose, but he was definitely doing things to her right now.

“You know, I could kinda get used to this,” she said. “I mean, us being nice to each other instead of arguing all the time and you pointing out all of my faults.”

Ben frowned slightly, her words seeming to bother him. There was a hint of guilt in his eyes again. “Rey, I don’t want you to think that—”

His voice abruptly cut off, and his posture stiffened. Rey wondered what in the world was going on until she heard loud footsteps and turned around to find Professor James Snoke standing at the doorway to the auditorium, staring at them. 

The professor was wearing a finely tailored suit with slicked-back blond hair, and he was standing so still that he looked like one of those living statue performers she’d seen on the streets of London. Although at the moment he was smiling, Rey could see the displeasure in his cold blue eyes. 

“Ben — I was looking for you in the library, and one of the other volunteers told me I’d probably find you here. I have some research papers from one of my summer classes that I’d like you to look over.” 

Snoke’s voice made Rey’s skin crawl; this was a man who was very good at pretending to have impeccable manners but was really just a selfish jerk who was drunk on his own inflated sense of power. 

Rey also noticed how abruptly Ben’s attitude had changed since Snoke walked into the room. He’d seemed almost relaxed as he was talking to Rey earlier, but now he looked uncomfortable and nervous, as if he’d been caught doing something Snoke disapproved of. 

Rey wasn’t sure what she’d done to offend Snoke, but he most definitely didn't have a very high opinion of her. He hadn’t bothered to say hello to her or introduce himself yet; he simply acted like she wasn’t in the room. 

“Um, sure, yeah, I can definitely do that after the Ren Faire meeting,” Ben said, stepping even further away from the piano. “I should be done by 9 o’clock or so.”

Snoke’s smile faded ever so slightly. “Are you sure you haven’t taken on too much with this festival?” Rey noticed that Snoke said “festival” as if it were a dirty word. “It does seem to be eating up quite a bit of your free time.”

“I can handle it,” Ben assured him. “I promise I won’t neglect my duties as a graduate assistant. This festival is just...well...it’s important to my mom, especially after everything that happened.”

“Of course,” Snoke said smoothly, but Rey knew the compassion in his tone was a lie. “I just don’t want any of these extracurricular activities to impact your future career. Have you applied for that internship yet that I told you about?”

“I was, uh, planning to do that tonight too,” Ben said. “I promise I’ll get it all done.”

“Good.” Snoke nodded crisply. “Thank you, Ben. I know I can always count on you.” With that, he turned sharply on his heels and left the auditorium, never once acknowledging Rey. 

“Wow, he is truly awful,” Rey said the second she was certain the professor was out of earshot. “What a jerk!”

Ben flinched; she could tell that he didn’t like what she’d said, but there was also a part of him that acknowledged the truth of it. “You shouldn’t say that. He’s my mentor and my boss, and—”

“He shouldn’t have treated you like that!” Rey fired back. “He has no right to be so condescending about your involvement with the festival, when clearly it means a lot to you. He can’t expect you to devote literally every second of your time to his projects. You have to have a life!”

“Being a grad assistant is a lot of responsibility — I knew that when I took the job,” Ben said stiffly. “Snoke is just trying to make sure I’ll get a good job after college.”

“Well, I think he’s just using you and manipulating you,” Rey said. “You’re not happy — I can see the difference between when you’re talking to him, and when you’re playing the piano.”

In the distance, Rey could hear Rose calling her name, and she knew her and Ben’s private conversation was almost at an end. 

He turned away from her, reaching for his clipboard and slipping back into business mode. The sparkle in his eyes was once again hidden behind the mask he too often wore. 

Yet before he left, Rey couldn’t resist adding, “Ben, you deserve better. You really do.”


	4. This is very midsummer madness

The summer flew by faster than Rey was prepared for. 

Between working at The Scavenger’s Boutique, volunteering with the Ren Faire, and hanging out with Rose and Finn, she didn’t end up with a lot of downtime. She found she didn’t really mind that, however; this was going to be her last summer in Pinewood, and she was, quite frankly, having the time of her life. 

She loved volunteering with the Ren Faire. It was funny — she’d initially signed up just because Finn and Rose were doing it, but now she was genuinely just as excited about the upcoming event as they were. 

By the time August arrived, she’d gotten to work on pretty much every aspect of the faire. She’d helped Hux sew new costumes for other volunteers, and she participated in a taste test for some of the foods that would be sold at the fair, including a caramel pumpkin pastry that was so delicious she’d eaten five. 

She’d kept an eye out at The Scavenger’s Boutique for objects that could be used for costumes or props, and she’d even found a set of dangling pearl earrings that Hux pronounced were “elegant enough for a queen.” Rey nearly burst with pride when Hux added them to Leia’s ensemble for the faire this year. 

The trickiest job she’d helped with was painting sets; Rose was a lot better at it than she was, but she helped too just because it was fun to work together (and, of course, giggle uncontrollably while they were painting). 

Ben assisted with a lot of the set painting too, and true to form, he was very particular about how everything was done. Once he complimented Rose for her work on a mural of a fairy garden that would be displayed in the queen’s tent, and then he’d turned around and informed Rey she was using the wrong shade of green paint for the grass. 

Rey was tempted to simply smile at him and keep on painting using the wrong shade, but she decided not to antagonize him. She kept remembering their surprisingly heartfelt conversation in the theatre auditorium, when she’d found him playing the piano by himself. She was so frustrated at Professor Snoke for interrupting them that day; she felt like she’d actually started getting to know Ben during their conversation, but then he’d shut down as soon as Snoke walked in. 

She could tell that Snoke was pushing Ben even harder now; Ben looked exhausted whenever he showed up to Ren Faire meetings, and while he didn’t complain, Rey could tell he felt overwhelmed by his increasing graduate assistant duties. 

Rey was pretty sure upping Ben’s workload was a passive aggressive move on Snoke’s part to chastise Ben for being so involved in the Ren Faire (Hux had informed her that Snoke absolutely hated the festival and refused to attend every year). Rey wished Snoke would just leave Ben in peace, because obviously the Ren Faire meant too much to Ben for him to give it up. Rey still wasn’t certain why, but the Ren Faire was deeply important to Ben, and he’d do whatever it took to make sure it was a success. Even if that meant getting just a handful of hours of sleep each night so he could get everything done. 

***

The time of rehearsal and preparation for the Ren Faire finally drew to a close, and there was now just one week left until the big event.

The last weekend before the Ren Faire, all the volunteers gathered to set up for the festival and have a dress rehearsal. Apparently it was tradition to do a “soft opening” the Saturday before the official faire; volunteers could invite a limited number of family and friends to visit the faire for a few hours, so all the volunteers could practice walking around in their costumes and serving customers. Rey would actually get to operate The Falcon’s Nest tavern for a few hours, which she was both excited and nervous about. 

Rey groaned as her alarm went off before 6 a.m. the morning of the dress rehearsal, but she dutifully hauled herself out of bed so she could meet Hux at the Pinewood University library to get dressed in her costume. 

Rose pulled up in her car precisely at 6:30 to pick Rey up. Although Finn — who was riding in the front passenger seat — looked as bleary-eyed as Rey, Rose was already grinning and bursting with energy.

“Today’s the day!” she proclaimed. “Well, sort of ‘the day.’ It’s not the real festival yet, but it will hopefully feel like it. I can’t wait to get there and see the full set-up.”

“Can we please stop for some coffee before we go?” Finn mumbled; he looked like he was still half-asleep. “I feel like I’m dying here.”

Rose laughed. “Hux said he would have coffee there waiting for us. I warned him that you and Rey would probably need at least two cups each.”

“You’re the best, Rose,” Rey said, squeezing her friend’s shoulder before jumping into the back seat and buckling herself in. 

As soon as they got to the library, Finn went with Poe to get dressed in his suit of chainmail, and Rose found the other catapult volunteers. Rey couldn’t find Hux in any of the rooms she looked in, so she decided to try putting on her costume by herself. She managed to put on the entire ensemble but needed help to lace up her corset. 

She slipped out of the dressing room and jogged down the hallway, calling for Hux. Where could he have gotten off to? She was sure that he’d be somewhere near the dressing rooms just in case—

“Oh!” 

Rey rounded a corner and found herself suddenly face to face with Ben Solo. With so many people running around in medieval garb, it was strange to find someone dressed in regular clothes. Ben was wearing plain khakis and a very flattering black sweater that did an excellent job of showing off his broad shoulders. 

Rey hadn’t been prepared to see Ben yet this morning, and so she found herself stumbling over her words. 

“Uh, hi,” she said. “I was just...um...looking for Hux. I needed him to help me...uh...lace up my corset.”

“I’m sorry, but Hux just ran to the store to buy some emergency last minute supplies,” Ben said. “I think he’s going to meet us at the faire.”

Rey looked at Ben, and before she even realized what she was saying, the words “Well, I guess you’ll just have to lace me up then” popped out of her mouth. 

Apparently, she’d shocked Ben into complete silence. She hadn’t meant to rattle him, but she saw his cheeks flush bright red as he processed what she was asking him. 

“Uh, sure, I guess I can do that.” 

She took a step closer to him, and then he took a step closer to her. Hux had laced Rey up plenty of times, but it had never felt this forbidden or enticing. Ben towered over her as he grasped the laces in his fingers; while the corset hadn’t been tightened yet, Rey could barely breathe. 

For a moment they just stared at each other, Rey looking up into his eyes and trying to guess what was going on behind that impossible-to-read expression of his. Finally, he tugged on the laces, inadvertently drawing Rey closer to him. For one incredible, terrifying second, she thought that he might actually bend down and kiss her. 

But then he blinked those beautiful brown eyes of his and took a quick step backwards, dropping the ends of the laces and letting his hands fall back by his sides. 

Rey fumbled to tie the ends of the laces into a bow, hoping that Ben hadn’t noticed how hot her cheeks were right now. 

“Your costume looks...really good, Rey,” Ben said, his voice surprisingly soft. “If you need anything else, I’ll be outside...uh...helping load some supplies into the van.”

And with that, he disappeared around the corner, leaving Rey strangely flustered. She was still standing there, motionless, a few seconds later when Poe came by and glanced at her quizzically. 

“You okay, Rey?” he asked, and she tried to smile as casually as possible. 

“Of course,” she said, the only thing she could think to say right now. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was really feeling, only that she couldn’t stop fantasizing about Ben’s eyes staring deeply into her own. Maybe she’d misread the moment, but there had definitely been something simmering between her and Ben. 

What in the world was she going to do about that man? 

***

When Rey, Finn, and Rose arrived at festival grounds, they couldn’t keep themselves from gasping in delight. 

While they’d all helped collect props, paint sets, and prepare costumes for the festival, that was nothing compared to seeing the Ren Faire officially set up and ready to welcome guests. 

The Pinewood Renaissance Faire took place on a plot of land owned by the university, with a small pond and a grove of trees in the far corner. Beyond the area roped off for parking, guests had to pass through a gate in a stone wall that looked just like some of the sets Rey had seen on _Game of Thrones_. 

The ticket takers (also dressed in costume) smiled and waved Rey and her friends through the front gate, and Rey’s eyes immediately widened in wonder as she entered the faire. 

She felt like she’d been transported back in time to a real medieval village. A dirt pathway wove through a collection of tents and wooden buildings, and soft Celtic music floated on the air. Rey knew the music was just coming from hidden speakers around the field, but the effect was still magical. 

All the shops and food vendors were clustered at the front of the faire. You could buy woven tapestries, candles, jewelry, leather goods, and more from the many shops, and each of the food vendors sold different delectable delights, ranging from turkey legs to fresh-baked bread to the delicious caramel pumpkin pastries Rey had sampled earlier. 

Past the stores was a gigantic arena, where Jannah and her team would perform staged jousts with real horses. The arena would also hold mock swordfights, dancing competitions, and catapult demonstrations each day of the faire. 

The queen’s tent — made from rich purple fabric edged in sparkling gold trim — showcased a large golden throne where “Queen Leia” would preside over the fair. Every few hours, Finn and the other “guards” would escort her around the faire so that she could visit with guests and “inspect her kingdom.” 

The small grove of trees was known as the “Fairy Forest” and would be lit up at night with tiny paper lanterns. Although the pond was a small body of water that would only take about a minute to swim across, at the faire it was transformed into the “Salty Sea” and a scaled-down replica of a pirate ship floated near the dock. The skull and crossbones flag hanging from the mast fluttered in the wind, and several of the pirates crewing the ship waved to Rey and her friends as they passed by. 

And finally, on the other side of the pond sat a quaint wooden building with a sign identifying it as The Falcon’s Nest tavern. As Rey peered in the windows, she could see a fire already crackling in the hearth and a row of mugs lined up on the bar. 

“This is going to be awesome!” Finn exclaimed as he turned around in a circle and took in all the sights of the faire. He wrapped his arms around Rose and Rey, drawing them into a quick group hug. “I’m so glad we’re doing this together. I’m going to go to the queen’s tent to get ready, but I’m definitely stopping by this tavern on my break to get a drink.”

“See you after the dress rehearsal!” Rose added before heading off towards the catapult, and then Rey found herself standing alone on the doorstep of the tavern. 

Taking a deep breath and reminding herself that she could do this, Rey stepped inside the tavern. The space felt cozy and warm, with its collection of wooden tables and chairs and a rustic wood chandelier hanging from the ceiling and lit by candles. 

Soon the three other tavern volunteers showed up, and they all spent the next hour getting everything arranged and ready for the guests to arrive. Rey hadn’t realized how fast the time was passing, and before she knew it, Hux stuck his head in the doorway and yelled, “The guests are coming — look lively, everyone!”

Hux was dressed up in his “evil sheriff” outfit, and while he did look quite villainous, he gave Rey a quick smile and a wink before he disappeared. 

In the distance, Rey could hear the sounds of loud voices and laughter and knew the front gate had now opened to visitors. She smoothed out her skirt, adjusted her corset, and then placed her hands on the bar. 

Ready or not, it was showtime. 

***

“Welcome to The Falcon’s Nest, a home for weary travelers, wayward rogues, and all lovers of a good time!”

Rey felt like she’d already said that greeting at least 100 times today, but because it had proven to be a hit, she grinned and said it one more time as the next couple of guests walked into the tavern. 

Rey had expected several dozen people — at most — to be attending this festival “dress rehearsal”; she certainly hadn’t been prepared for 100+. A hundred people already felt like a huge crowd; what would it be like when thousands showed up to the Ren Faire next weekend? 

Still, despite feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment, Rey was having a blast overall. She loved hearing Amilyn Holdo and her medieval band “The Resistance” play at the top of every hour, and it was fun to take orders from the guests and slide mugs of ale across the bar to them. She’d heard one man exclaim that he felt like he was in a tavern from _Lord of the Rings_ , which Rey thought was a lovely compliment. 

After she’d served the two new patrons who’d just walked in, Rey turned around and took a quick sip of ice water from her glass behind the counter (she wanted to keep it out of sight as much as possible, to avoid spoiling the medieval vibe). The Resistance finished off the last song of their set, to enthusiastic applause from the tavern patrons. Rey was about to compliment Amilyn on another great round of songs when Hux abruptly flung open the door and barged into the tavern. 

Rey thought he might be on break and was coming to get a drink, but as he brandished his sword and shouted at everyone to pay attention, she quickly realized he was still in character. She knew some of the wandering festival performers would interact with the crowd at various times of the day; she wondered what Hux’s infamous “evil sheriff” character had planned for them now. 

Hux’s dark green cape swirled as he turned around the room, his eyes narrowing. 

“Listen here, you peasants,” he growled, addressing the tavern patrons. “My business is not with you, so you’d best stay out of my way.” 

Rey blinked, and quickly did her best to look concerned and play along with this little act. Hux was doing a pretty good job of appearing menacing, and some of the tavern patrons even looked a little scared. 

Hux snapped around and pointed his sword at Rey. “My business is with you, M’Lady. Where are the taxes you owe?”

Rey hadn’t been briefed on what to do here, and she felt her heart start beating a little faster as everyone in the tavern turned and looked at her, expecting her to challenge him. She didn’t see a bag of pretend money behind the counter for her to hand over to the sheriff, so she assumed she was supposed to resist. 

She looked back at Hux, and he gave her a quick nod of encouragement. Although the fact that everyone was watching her perform made her a little nervous, she decided to just relax and have fun. She was looking forward to verbally sparring with Hux. 

“What taxes?” she proclaimed boldly. “I’ve already paid the taxes I owe to the queen. You’re just here to extort money from me to line your own pockets!”

Rey could hear a few people clapping and cheering her on, and Hux gave her a mock glare. 

“How dare you accuse me of criminal activity!” he exclaimed. “You’re the one in violation of the law by not paying your proper taxes. If you don’t hand over the gold now, I’m going to cart you off to jail immediately.”

Although the crowd started to boo, Hux sneered at them. “Oh hush, you all know that I’m right.” He glanced at Rey. “M’Lady, my patience is waning. You have until the count of ten to produce the gold. One...two—”

“Sheriff Hux, are you antagonizing my favorite tavern again?”

At the sound of this unexpected interruption, everyone turned and stared at the doorway as a tall pirate captain stepped into the tavern. There were several ooo’s and ahh’s from impressed patrons, but that was nothing compared to the reaction from Rey herself. 

Rey had always thought “swooning” was something made up in old movies. Surely people didn’t actually “swoon” in real life. However, Rey most definitely felt like swooning now. 

She was so caught off guard by the handsome pirate captain that it took her a moment to realize the man she was currently gaping at was actually Ben Solo. 

Rey thought Ben mainly worked behind the scenes of the Ren Faire; she had no idea he played one of the costumed characters, and definitely NOT a character as exciting as a pirate. 

He was wearing black leather pants, a long black coat with silver buttons, knee-high black boots, a burgundy shirt, and a tricorn hat. She thought he was wearing just a hint of eyeliner (the “guyliner” was a very, very good look for pirate Ben, she noted). 

She never would have imagined Ben Solo in this kind of get-up, and what made it even more shocking was this character’s shameless swagger. Pirate Ben had a roguish grin and oozed confidence; for the first time since watching Ben play the piano, she could tell he was having fun. 

“Oh look, if it isn’t the famous pirate, Captain Kylo Ren,” Hux said, rolling his eyes. “So good of you to join us. I believe there is also a bounty on your head, so I guess I might as well take you and this rebellious tavern owner to jail at the same time.”

Ben looked over at Rey and shot her a devilish wink that made her feel a little weak in the knees. 

“My apologies Sheriff, but neither Rey nor I plan to be locked behind bars today,” Ben fired back. “If you don’t leave peacefully right this moment, she and I will make you leave.”

Hux’s face redeemed; he was doing a great job feigning absolute fury. “I dare you to try.”

“Well then — challenge accepted.” Ben pulled out his sword and lunged towards Hux, and the crowd gasped. Hux’s and Ben’s swords clattered together as they circled each other in a rapid duel. Although Rey knew the swords were plastic and this performance was just for show, it still looked intense. She could tell the crowd was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see how the fight resolved. 

The duel lasted for about a minute, until Hux “tripped” and fell down to his knees. Ben whipped his sword around, stopping the point inches from Hux’s chest. The crowd began to applaud as the evil sheriff was forced to surrender. 

“Perhaps now you’ll consent to leave?” Ben asked with a wicked grin, and Hux glowered. 

“You haven’t seen the last of me, pirate,” he spit out, sheathing his sword and then scurrying out the door in defeat. 

As the crowd continued to clap and cheer, Ben bowed with a flourish, continuing to lock eyes with Rey. 

She had never seen Ben with such high spirits, and the effect was more than a little...well...intoxicating. Rey knew that as the tavern owner, she should probably say something right now, but real-life Rey was still speechless. 

Finally, one of the other tavern volunteers elbowed her gently in the side, and she snapped out of her daze. 

“Yes...thank you, Captain,” she said, responding with a bow of her own. “The Falcon’s Nest is in your debt. You’ve earned yourself a pint of ale, on the house.”

Ben stepped up to the bar, leaning against it and staring into her eyes. Unconsciously, Rey found herself leaning towards him, as though some unseen magnetic force was drawing them together. 

“I don’t think I need a drink,” he said, his voice low and quiet.

Rey stared back into his eyes, feeling her heart hammering against her chest. 

“What do you need, then?” she asked, now a bit breathless. 

Their faces were just inches apart from each other now, and though everyone was still watching them, it felt like she and Ben were the only people in the room. 

Although she still wasn’t sure how she felt about Ben Solo, she realized that she very much wanted pirate Ben to close the remaining gap between them and kiss her. She didn’t care that they were surrounded by strangers, or that they were both playing pretend characters. 

Right now she needed him to pick her up, sit her on the bar in front of him, and kiss her into oblivion. So what if this new, seductive side of Ben was just part of the act? She could wait and figure that out later. 

Ben lowered his head towards hers, and for one deliciously agonizing moment, she thought he was actually going to kiss her. But instead, he took her hand and kissed it, in a grand, period-appropriate gesture that left Rey with a pang of disappointment. 

“Your thanks is enough, M’Lady,” he said, and then with a tip of his hat, he marched back out of the tavern, as the crowd gave him another round of applause for besting the evil sheriff. 

The other tavern volunteers were staring at Rey a bit suspiciously, as if they’d guessed just how into that little performance she’d been. She took a long, slow drink from her glass of water, needing to cool off in more ways than one. 

Was pirate Ben going to do this every day of the festival? She certainly hoped so. 


	5. If music be the food of love, play on

“So Rey — I heard things got _pretty steamy_ at The Falcon’s Nest tavern today.” Finn glanced back at Rey from where he was sitting in the front passenger seat of Rose’s car and gave her a mischievous wink. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rey replied, trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to keep as neutral an expression as possible. Apparently her and Ben’s little interlude at the tavern was the latest hot gossip amongst the Ren Faire volunteers. 

Rey had tried to argue that she and Ben were both in costume and were just playing pretend characters, but few people actually seemed to believe that. Everyone seemed to think that there was way too much chemistry between tavern manager Rey and pirate Ben for it to be an act. 

_And they’d be right,_ the little voice inside Rey’s head taunted her. Rey was past the point that she could deny to herself that she’d wanted pirate Ben to do far more than just politely kiss her hand. 

She wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone else, however, and so she just continued to smile sweetly at Finn. 

“I was just trying to stay in character,” she said. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”

Although Finn raised an eyebrow and looked at her doubtfully, he didn’t tease her further. Sensing that Rey was ready for a change of subject, Rose turned up the music in her car, and soon Rose and Finn were enthusiastically singing along to her Backstreet Boys playlist. 

Rey desperately wanted to relax and join them in their singalong, but she continued to be haunted by Ben’s deep eyes and the way he’d leaned in towards her. He’d wanted to kiss her...hadn’t he? Was he really just playing a part? She realized she’d be very sad if he was...

***

On the Ren Faire’s opening day, Rey was woken up early in the morning by the sound of rumbling thunder. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window just in time to see a flash of lightning, and she felt her heart sink. She couldn’t bear the thought of the first official day of the Ren Faire being cancelled because of a thunderstorm!

She started getting ready anyway, and thankfully, luck appeared to be on their side. By the time Rey, Rose, and Finn made it to the Pinewood University library to get dressed in their costumes, the sun had started peeking out behind the clouds. 

Rey looked around for Ben at the library after she put on her costume, but to her disappointment, he was nowhere to be found. She didn’t see him when they got to the faire either (even though she paused for a suspiciously long time beside the pirate ship and watched for him). 

The sun was shining brightly, with not a cloud in sight, when Rey arrived at The Falcon’s Nest tavern. She and the other volunteers started setting up for the arrival of the day’s guests, and while technically the routine wasn’t any different from what they’d done during the dress rehearsal, there was extra excitement in the air today. In a little less than an hour, the faire would be packed with thousands of guests from out of town, and Rey wanted to make sure they all had fond memories of their time in the tavern. 

As the day wore on, Rey lost count of how many mugs of ale she’d served. The tavern actually got so crowded at one point that people had to stand in line outside to wait for their turn to get in. Everyone loved Amilyn Holdo’s medieval band, The Resistance, and even after the musicians finished their set, people kept clapping for so long that the band had to play an encore. 

Rey anxiously waited to see if pirate Ben would show up again, and she kept getting distracted every time a new person stepped into the tavern, hoping it was him. Eventually, Hux did make an appearance as the evil sheriff, but instead of Ben arriving to chase him off, this time it was Amilyn and the Resistance who forced him to back down. The band played louder and louder, until finally no one could hear Hux’s shouting, and so he had to give up and run away. 

Although the crowd loved seeing the band take on the sheriff and Amilyn was a great actor, Rey found she was surprisingly sad that Ben had not made an appearance. Maybe the pirates were being kept busy elsewhere?

She had almost given up when one of the Ren Faire pages scurried into the tavern. You could hire a page to hand-deliver a letter to another person at the faire; couples sometimes used it to send surprise love notes to each other. Rey assumed the page had showed up to deliver a message to one of her patrons, and so she was shocked when the page walked right up to her and bowed, presenting a folded piece of parchment to her. 

“A letter for you, M’Lady,” he said, and Rey took the piece of paper and slowly opened it, feeling very puzzled. Maybe Rose or Finn had decided to send her a hand-written note, just for fun?

To her surprise, however, the letter wasn’t even signed: all that was written on the paper was the sentence: “Meet me in the Fairy Forest right after the faire,” in beautiful calligraphy. 

What was this all about? She found her heart beating a little faster as she considered whether or not this letter might be from pirate Ben. She didn’t know why he’d send her a cryptic note, but she couldn’t think of anyone else who would send her a mysterious, unsigned message. 

She noticed the crowd inside the tavern had been watching her curiously as she read the letter, and so she quickly tried to get back into character. 

“It appears that I may have a secret admirer!” she said with a saucy grin that hid how giddy and nervous she was actually feeling. “They want me to meet them in the Fairy Forest after I lock up the tavern tonight!”

The guests were immediately intrigued — several asked if she had any idea who this secret admirer could be, but she played it coy. Someone suggested that it might be a trap arranged by the sheriff and urged her to be cautious. Rey assured them that she’d be careful, although inwardly she thought about just how annoyed she’d be if this WAS just a prank from Hux. 

She tried to keep her focus on her tavern duties throughout the afternoon, but she kept getting distracted by her thoughts of who might be waiting for her in the forest tonight. By the time the sun went down and they served their final customer at the tavern, Rey was just about dizzy from nervousness and excitement. 

When Rose texted her and Finn to see if they’d need a ride home tonight, Rey replied that she was meeting someone (if all went well, maybe she’d be hitching a ride home with pirate Ben!). 

Finn seemed immediately suspicious, because he replied back to the group text with, _Going sailing with a certain pirate tonight?_ ⛵❤️

Rey replied back with a wink and a question mark; she supposed there was no point in hiding it from her best friends anymore. 

She debated whether she should change into the tank top and shorts she’d brought with her in her backpack, but then decided she might as well go in costume. The note had said to come to the Fairy Forest as soon as the faire ended; maybe her mysterious letter-sender was already there waiting.

Rey had only walked through the Fairy Forest in the daytime, and while it had seemed like a cute little spot to enjoy an afternoon stroll or a picnic, it was transformed into something entirely different in the dark. 

As Rey stepped onto the dirt pathway that led through the forest, she looked up and saw what appeared to be hundreds of ivory-colored paper lanterns hanging from the branches. The lights twinkled on and off, making it look like fairies were floating through the leaves. This felt like a place where magic truly was real. The sounds of the outside world faded, and Rey almost believed she’d slipped into some otherworldly realm outside of time and space. 

She followed the path for several minutes and found it was longer than she’d anticipated. She eventually came to a fork in the path and was wondering which direction she should head when she heard a sudden voice behind her calling her name. 

“Rey!”

She turned around, feeling like her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. 

It was Ben, just as she’d expected (and hoped). While she’d thought that pirate Ben was handsome before, something about happening upon him in the lantern-lit forest after dark made him seem even more attractive. 

He was still wearing his tricorn hat and captain’s coat, and he was everything _Pirates of the Caribbean_ -obsessed teenage Rey could have dreamed of. 

“Fancy meeting you here!” she said in an attempt at flirtation but was sabotaged by her voice cracking nervously. “When I got that note from the page, some of the tavern patrons thought it was a trap from the evil sheriff.”

Ben chuckled softly, his face turning a little red. (Ben? Laughing? Rey very much liked the sound of that.) “It’s not a trap, I promise. And if it was, I definitely think you could take the sheriff on. Hux’s character is all bark and no bite.”

“So...was it pirate Ben who wanted to meet tavern owner Rey in the forest tonight, or was that letter from Ben Solo to Rey Johnson, Ren Faire volunteer?” she couldn’t help asking, and Ben’s face turned even redder. 

“Uh, yeah, it was me,” he said, which she realized didn’t really answer the question. “I was on my way to the tavern in the afternoon but then Poe stopped me for a mock swordfight and after that I had to get back to the ship. I missed seeing you.”

Rey’s heart skipped, but she tried to smile nonchalantly. She felt suddenly shy about letting Ben see how hard she was falling for him right now. She needed to keep the mood light and teasing. 

“Well, it certainly isn’t very proper for a respectable tavern owner to be meeting a scandalous pirate all alone in the woods after dark,” she said, placing her hands on her hips and pretending to lecture him. 

A smile tugged at the edges of Ben’s lips. “You’re right — it probably isn’t.”

Rey took a step towards him, twirling her skirt around her. “There might be rumors.”

His smile kept growing. “There might be.”

“Perhaps I should leave,” Rey said, even though she wanted to do no such thing. 

He took a step towards her, narrowing the space between them so that they were almost as close as they’d been when she’d felt the chemistry sparking between them at the tavern. He was towering over her, and she looked up into his deep brown eyes, finding herself completely mesmerized. 

“Perhaps I should leave,” he said softly, leaning towards her. 

Rey could barely breathe right now. “You’re free to go at any time — I’m not holding you captive,” she replied, her voice almost a whisper. 

“I think perhaps you are,” he said, gently brushing a lock of hair away from her eyes. “Have you noticed the power you hold over me?”

Finally, Rey could stand it no longer. “Are you going to kiss me or not?” she asked, and that was all the invitation he needed. 

His hands slipped around her waist, and he bent down towards her and kissed her, sending sparks running through her. This was not just a cute little “let’s test the waters and see how it feels to do this” kiss; it was passionate and desperate, like she was a breath of oxygen that would save him from dying. 

Rey slipped off his pirate hat so she could run her hands through his hair, and no matter how hard and fast she kissed him, it just didn’t seem hard or fast enough. She eventually jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her and kissed her, not caring that her skirt was getting all tangled up. He backed up into a tree, and even though having your back pressed against a tree trunk probably wasn’t the most comfortable position in the world, he didn’t even seem to notice. 

Rey had been kissed before, but never like THIS. As Ben kissed his way down her neck, his hands running up and down her back, she thought she was going to literally combust. She felt like she and Ben were the only people in the world right now, and she wanted this moment to stretch on forever, as they lost themselves completely in each other. 

Although Rey’s mind was currently filled with nothing but thoughts of kissing Ben, thankfully some other part of her brain was paying attention to her surroundings. Panic shot through her as she heard the sound of footsteps, and she and Ben awkwardly broke apart right as none other than professor Leia Organa walked into the clearing. 

“There you are!” she exclaimed to Ben. Leia had changed out of her queen’s wardrobe and into comfy-looking jeans and a cardigan, though her hair was still wound into the elaborate braids that had been a part of her character. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Leia didn’t remark on the fact that it was suspicious Rey and Ben were out here all alone after the faire had closed, for which Rey was grateful. Leia was a smart woman — she’d probably guessed exactly what was going on, but didn’t want to pry into her son’s private business. 

“Rey, I didn’t realize you’d met my son. How is your summer going so far?” Leia, ever the diplomat, turned to Rey and graciously continued the conversation, since her son was still too stunned to speak. 

“Uh...good,” Rey said, trying to smooth out the wrinkles in her skirt without being too obvious. “I’ve really enjoyed volunteering with the faire. I’ve...uh...learned a lot.” That was certainly one way of putting it.

Leia smiled, and Rey had the mortifying thought that the twinkle in Leia’s eyes was probably because the professor knew what she meant by “learned a lot.” 

“Well, if you two are going to be hanging out this evening, I’m sure I can catch a ride home with Amilyn,” Leia offered, but Ben shook his head. 

“No Mom, it’s totally fine. I promised I’d drive you home and then help you fix that broken bookshelf.”

Rey noticed that Ben’s “mask” was back up now, making his emotions hard to read. She couldn’t tell whether he was disappointed to leave her or just embarrassed that his mom had caught them making out. 

“Thanks, son.” Leia gave Ben a quick hug, and Rey could tell that even with Ben’s reluctance to show emotion in front of people, he loved his mom very deeply. She felt a pang as she wondered what it would be like to have a relationship like that with her own parents. 

“Do you need a ride, Rey?” Ben asked, and while Rey thought it was nice he wasn’t going to just abandon her in the forest, she was still busy processing her thoughts and emotions and wasn’t sure she was ready to share a car ride with the mother of her former rival that she’d just been making out with.

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” she said as casually as she could. “I was just going to call an Uber. You go on with your plans.”

“Are you sure?” Leia asked. “It’s no trouble.”

“Nope, I’m fine — I promise,” Rey insisted, and then both Leia and Ben wished her goodnight and disappeared down the path. 

Rey almost wanted to call out to them and tell them she’d changed her mind, but it was too late. On her long walk back to the front gate, she realized the forest felt much less magical without Ben in it. 

***

Once Rey got home, she ate a box of macaroni and cheese, showered, threw on some comfy pajamas, and then collapsed into bed. She was exhausted from her busy day, but she found she couldn’t sleep, her thoughts haunted by a certain pirate from the Ren Faire. 

It wasn’t too hard to admit that she had a crush on pirate Ben; it felt a lot more risky to admit that she was maybe falling for the man behind the costume, Ben Solo. Rey had dated before but had never been in a serious relationship. After her experience with her family, she just found it hard to trust people. Finn and Rose were really the only two people she was close to. 

Although making out with a handsome pirate in an enchanted forest was a fun summer fling, falling in love with the real Ben Solo was something much different. She’d be putting her heart on the line, and if she found out he just saw this as a fun little summer flirtation and nothing more, she could get her heart broken.

Just like with the path in the forest, Rey now found herself with two diverging choices: she could just keep flirting with pirate Ben at the faire and not take this seriously, and then forget about all of it once school started again. Or...she could take a risk, allow herself to be vulnerable, and let Ben know that she was interested in something deeper. 

  
She took out her phone and stared at the screen for a long time before she worked up the resolve to start a text message to Ben. She’d never texted him directly, just as part of Ren Faire volunteer group chats. She wondered if he’d even recognize her number. 

Tomorrow night after the Ren Faire, Pinewood University was hosting a “back to school bash” that featured a dance on the university lawn. Rey had been planning to go and hang out with Finn and Rose, but maybe she could invite Ben to join them. (Finn had actually suggested that very thing this morning.)

_“Hey, I’m going with some friends to the university dance tomorrow night...wanna join me?”_

Before she lost courage, she hit the send button and then proceeded to stare at her phone screen for five minutes straight. The wait became even more agonizing when she saw the “message read” notification. He’d seen her message...why wasn’t he responding? What if she’d made him uncomfortable? Maybe this had been a bad idea all along…

Rey cursed and started to turn her phone off, when she heard the ding of an incoming text message. Her heart pounding, she saw that Ben actually had replied.

_“Sure, I’d love to. Want me to pick you up after the faire?”_

Rey had to clap a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. She couldn’t believe it; he’d said yes, he’d actually said yes! And he was picking her up too — it now sounded very much like a date. 

She sank back onto the bed, clutching the cell phone to her chest and trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She hadn’t been this giddy about a crush since middle school. She almost felt like too much was happening too fast, but she couldn’t take back her invite now. 

It was time to explore how she really felt about Ben Solo — and how he really felt about her. 


	6. To thine own self be true

Never before had Rey agonized so much over what to wear to a party. 

After the Ren Faire closed for the day, she had just one hour to get home, get changed, and then get ready to go to the university’s back to school bash with Ben on a kinda-maybe-hopefully date. 

“Rey, it’s about time to go — I’m sure you look amazing!” Rose called from outside the door to Rey’s bedroom. “Are you almost ready to come out? Ben will probably be here to pick you up any minute!” 

Rose was right — Rey _was_ running out of time. However, she couldn’t help lingering for just a minute more and staring critically at her reflection in the mirror. 

She’d tried on three different outfits so far, and none of them seemed quite right. What was Ben going to wear tonight, she wondered? Would he go for a more casual look, or would he be dressed up? Was he as anxiety-ridden as she was right now?

Unlike yesterday, Ben did have a chance to stop by The Falcon’s Nest tavern during the Ren Faire this afternoon. They’d flirted shamelessly, to the great delight of the crowd, and when they’d parted, Ben had kissed her hand with such a smoldering look in his eyes that he’d sent shivers running through her. She’d spent the whole day thinking about their little rendezvous in the Fairy Forest last night, and she was both excited and terrified to find out what would happen at the dance. 

“No, this isn’t going to work,” Rey muttered to herself as she peeled off the yellow sundress she’d just tried on and tossed it on the floor. For whatever reason, she couldn’t walk out the door in that dress, even though she had no idea what to try on next. Why was it so much easier to be confident around Ben when they were both in costume? Maybe she should just give up and wear her medieval outfit to the dance. 

“Rey?” Rose called to her again, her voice more hesitant this time, as if she didn’t want to interrupt Rey again but felt she had to. “I really don’t want to rush you, but I think I see Ben’s car pulling up outside. Finn and I are gonna go ahead and go — we’ll see you at the dance!”

Rey let out a strangled cry of panic as she heard the words “Ben’s car pulling up outside.”

“You’ll do great!” Finn added his own words of encouragement, and then she heard her friends running down the stairs and then opening and shutting the front door. 

Ben was here! Technically she still had ten minutes until they’d agreed to meet, but of course Ben would arrive early, just like he had to every Ren Faire meeting. 

Rey dashed to her closet and started pulling out clothes, looking for something — anything — that would strike her fancy. 

And that’s when she saw THE DRESS.

Hidden at the very back of the closet, it was a dress that she hadn’t been brave enough to wear yet and had actually forgotten about. But it beckoned to her now. 

Rey had spotted the pale pink, strapless, knee-length dress hanging on a rack at The Scavenger’s Boutique last summer. She’d never been daring enough to wear a strapless dress before, but Rose and Finn had convinced her to try it on and then proclaimed that she was “perfection” when she’d nervously stepped out of the changing room. 

Even though it was designed to be a more casual dress, it had a faint dusting of glitter across the bodice that added just a touch of glamour. She’d never found the right occasion to wear it, but something inside her told her that tonight was the night. 

Rey carefully pulled the dress off the hangar and then stepped into it, zipping herself up in the back. She slipped into some white sandals and grabbed some dangling silver earrings, and then dared to turn around and look at herself in the mirror right as Ben rang the doorbell. 

Rey wasn’t sure what to think as she turned around in a slow circle and examined how she looked. She felt strangely vulnerable in this dress, revealing a part of herself she’d never shown before. Wearing this dress was an admission that she wanted to impress Ben tonight and that he meant something to her beyond their fun little flirtation at the Ren Faire.

_Maybe I should go back to the yellow sundress,_ she started to think, but the time for doubting herself was past. Ben Solo was literally standing on her doorstep RIGHT NOW, and she couldn’t keep him waiting any longer. 

She brushed some mascara on her eyelashes, grabbed her cell phone, and then darted down the stairs as fast as she could. She paused for just one second more to take a deep, calming breath, and then flung the door open. 

For a long moment, she and Ben said absolutely nothing, just taking in the sight of each other. She felt a rush of self-conscious giddiness as they stood there staring at each other, and she decided the pink dress had absolutely been the right choice. They might not be at the magical fantasy land of the Ren Faire anymore, but the way he was looking at her with starry-eyed wonder made her feel like she really was a princess. 

For the first time since she’d met him, Rey knew she was seeing the real, unfiltered Ben Solo — not pirate Ben who was simply playing a part; not Ren Faire volunteer Ben who felt pressured to make everything perfect; and not grad assistant Ben who was controlled by Professor Snoke. Ben was showing her his true self tonight, and taking the same risk she was: allowing himself to be vulnerable and opening up his heart. 

Ben’s slightly wavy black hair was perfectly styled, as always, and he was wearing skinny black jeans that made him seem even taller than he already was. He also had on a well-fitted, dark gray T-shirt — the first time she had actually seen him in short sleeves. 

Rose had been right — Ben did have a sleeve tattoo stretching from his wrist to his elbow. Elegant spirals of black ink traced their way up his left arm, ending in a silhouette of a falcon in flight. She was reminded of the name of the tavern at the Ren Faire — The Falcon’s Nest — and wondered if falcons were an important symbol to his family. 

“You look amazing,” Ben finally said, his words breaking the spell of speechlessness that they’d cast over each other. “I mean...really, really amazing.”

Rey’s face flushed bright red. “You do too. I love your tattoo. It’s...” _So, so hot_ were the words she was thinking, but instead she said “a great design.”

“Thanks.” He seemed a bit embarrassed by the attention, but she could tell he’d also appreciated the compliment. “I got it in honor of my dad after he...after he died.”

“Oh, I…” Rey didn’t know what to say, and she felt horrible for drawing attention to something that was still painful to him. She didn’t mean to keep inadvertently prying into his private business. “I’m so sorry, Ben. I didn’t realize he was gone.”

“He died from cancer several years ago, but it’s still hard for my mom and I to talk about it,” he explained. “I didn’t always have the best relationship with my dad, and I feel like I’m always gonna carry that guilt with me. I wanted to get this tattoo to remind me of him, and to remind myself to be a better person.”

Rey studied the tattoo for a moment, the design seeming even more beautiful now that she knew the story behind it. She had a feeling Ben hadn’t shared this story with many people, and she was humbled that he already trusted her enough to share it with her. 

“My dad was a pilot, and he used to have a plane that he nicknamed ‘The Falcon,’” Ben continued. “As you’ve probably already gathered, mom named the tavern at the Ren Faire after him. It was his favorite spot at the festival when he was still alive.”

“Were your parents the queen and king of the festival then?” Rey asked, and Ben surprised her by chuckling. 

“Oh no — there was no way my dad was going to get dressed up in a fancy costume like that and follow a bunch of rules and protocols. He used to be the captain of the pirate’s ship. He did a way better job than I do, but...I try my best.”

Although Ben didn’t add anything else, Rey could easily guess the doubts he felt that remained unspoken. Ben worked so hard to live up to his father’s legacy, and he was haunted by the feeling that he wasn’t good enough. She suspected that Professor Snoke had taken advantage of Ben’s need for a father figure after his father’s death, and Snoke continued to promote Ben’s feelings of self-doubt because that made him easier to control.

Rey wanted to take Ben’s hand and tell him that yes, he most certainly was good enough and that Snoke could go to hell, but that felt like too much of an intrusion into his personal business. It was weird going through this awkward “first date” stage after they’d already made out in the Fairy Forest. They’d shared an intimate moment but in many ways were still strangers, and she was afraid he’d shut down if the conversation got too intense.

“Anyway, thanks a lot for inviting me tonight,” Ben said, changing the subject. “I...well...feel like we kinda got off to a bad start at the first Ren Faire volunteer meeting.”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “You mean the one where you accused me of just volunteering so I could get free admission?”

Ben grimaced. “Yeah, that...wasn’t great. I should have apologized way sooner, and I’m really sorry. I take the Ren Faire a little too seriously sometimes. I want the event to go well every year because I know how much it means to my mom, but I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“Well, despite your best efforts, you didn’t scare me away,” Rey teased. “And now look at us — hanging out alone outside the Ren Faire. There’s definitely going to be gossip now.”

“We might as well give them something to talk about, then.”

He grinned at her, and Rey felt like she was going to melt. She’d never met someone who could ignite her emotions like this, and it made her feel both scared and wonderful. She realized that she’d love to make Ben smile like this every day for the rest of her life. 

***

To Rey, the rest of the evening seemed to pass like a hazy dream — not that that was a bad thing, though. Because this was a very, very, _VERY_ good dream. 

Ben dropped the top of his shiny black convertible car (the last gift his father had given him), and Rey spent the ride to the university smiling, staring up at the stars, and relishing the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair.

Finn and Rose were already at the party waiting for them, and they greeted Ben warmly. Even though Rey had spent a lot of time complaining about Ben this summer, they knew her feelings about him had changed and they were also willing to give him a second chance. 

As Ben and Rose chatted about details for the final day of the Ren Faire tomorrow, Finn leaned in towards Rey and whispered, “Damn, Ben cleans up well, doesn’t he? That tattoo is amazing!”

“I know, right?” Although there were plenty of distracting sights and sounds at the university’s back to school bash, Rey found her attention always snapped back to Ben. “At the start of the summer, I thought I hated him, but now…”

“You should totally go grab him and dance,” Finn urged her. “He could probably spend the whole night talking about Ren Faire plans if you let him, but that’s definitely not what you’re here for.”

Rey wasn’t that great of a dancer, but Finn was correct — it definitely felt like there was magic in the air tonight, and Rey wanted to take advantage of it. 

Grabbing Ben by the hand, she led him out to the open-air dance floor that had been set up on the university lawn. The space was already crowded with students and there was barely enough room to squeeze through, but she was surrounded by so much excitement and energy that she didn’t care. 

She threw her hands in the air above her head and danced for song after song. She hadn’t been certain if Ben really wanted to dance or was just humoring her, but apparently her excitement was infectious because after the first song he threw his hands up too. They spun around and around each other until Rey was almost dizzy. She was so happy she felt like she was floating across the dance floor.

Rey had no idea how much time had passed before the band finally started winding down, switching their upbeat playlist to a selection of slower songs. Rey wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck and they slowly swayed together as the lights twinkled around them. She wished he would kiss her again, but the moment didn’t feel quite right yet; the dance floor was still too crowded, and she had the sudden urge to go someplace quiet and secluded. 

Ben was apparently having the same thoughts, because after the song finished playing, he took her by the hand and whispered “Follow me.”

They slipped away from the party, and Rey followed Ben down the shadowy pathway winding through campus. They stopped at the university’s administration building and Ben pulled a key out of his pocket. 

“We’re probably not supposed to be here,” he confessed. “But there’s something I really wanna show you.” 

“Your office?” she asked, unsure what else he could mean, but Ben shook his head. 

“No — something much cooler.”

They ducked into the building and sneaked down the darkened hallway to the staircase at the back. They climbed the stairs until they reached the fourth floor. Rey had no idea why he was bringing her to a floor that was basically just a standard row of offices. 

“Where are we going?” Rey asked, dying of curiosity. “Your mom’s office?”

“Nope, we’ve got one more floor to go,” Ben said, and Rey stared at him in confusion. 

“But the fourth floor is the top floor,” she started to protest and then stopped, suddenly realizing what he meant. “Wait...are you taking me up to the clocktower?”

The Pinewood University administration building clocktower was arguably the most iconic landmark on campus. It had been built in the late 1800s when the university was first founded, and although it had an observation deck at the top, it was technically off limits to the public. 

Ben ducked underneath the rope blocking the entrance to the narrow staircase that led to the clocktower, ignoring the “do not enter” sign. 

Rey giggled nervously. “Are we going to get in trouble for this?” she asked, and Ben shot her a devilish grin. 

“Only if we get caught.”

Rey slipped underneath the rope and darted up the staircase after Ben, the wooden boards creaking beneath her feet. She couldn’t believe she was doing this right now, with Ben Solo of all people; when she first met him, she wouldn’t have guessed he’d break the rules to do something this crazy (and romantic). 

When they finally reached the top of the staircase, Ben stopped in front of the doorway and put his hand on the door handle. “Are you ready?” he asked, and she nodded a bit breathlessly, in a way that had nothing to do with the fact that she’d just run up a flight of stairs. 

“Heights actually make me a little nervous,” Ben confessed, “but my mom and I sneaked up here one time, and the view is just incredible. I wanted to show it to you too.”

With that, he opened the door and took Rey by the hand, leading her out onto the observation deck. A cool breeze rustled the fabric of her dress, and Rey felt a rush of excitement as she ran up to the railing and looked out over campus. 

Ben hadn’t been exaggerating — the view up here truly was incredible. She could see the entire campus from up here: from the fountain at the far north corner near the theatre, to the back to school bash still going on below them on the university lawn. She could even see the twinkling lights from the street lamps lining Main Street, where The Spark Cafe and The Scavenger’s Boutique were located.

“This is officially THE BEST first date I’ve ever been on,” Rey declared. Technically neither of them had officially labeled this as a “date” when they’d agreed to meet, but Rey decided she was ready to let Ben know how she felt about him. She _wanted_ this to be a date. 

“Wow, thanks,” Ben said, a little self-consciously. “I really, really wanted to impress you tonight. I...I like you a lot, Rey. It’s not easy for me to talk about my feelings, but I’m trying to get better at that. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you told me off at that first Ren Faire meeting. There was just something about you. I’ve never met another person who made me feel like you do.”

Rey swallowed, suddenly feeling like she had a lump in her throat. _I’ve never met another person who made me feel like you do_ — she felt the exact same way about Ben. 

“I really like you too,” Rey confessed. She hadn’t expected them to have a deep conversation tonight (maybe just another wonderfully intense make-out session), but she could tell that Ben was ready to start opening up. And even though she was a little scared, she was ready too.

“I’ve actually never been in a serious relationship before,” Rey told him. “I grew up in the foster care system in London after my parents abandoned me. Naturally, I’ve got some trust issues. Rose and Finn are the only people that I’m really close to. I was always afraid that if I let myself fall in love, I’d get my heart broken, and that they’d hurt me like my parents did.”

Rey could feel her eyes watering, but she wasn’t ashamed of her tears. It felt good to confess this to Ben, and to see the love and compassion in his eyes. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said, taking both her hands in his and looking down into her eyes. “I can’t believe your parents just treated you like garbage. You deserve so, so much more, Rey. _I_ want to give you so much more.”

He leaned down and kissed her, his lips softly brushing hers. It was a sweet, gentle kiss, but Rey didn’t want him to just kiss her gently. 

She kissed him harder, tracing her finger up the spiraling lines of his tattoo. He responded immediately, pulling her closer to him and sliding his hands up her back. Every point where his fingers touched her skin felt like fire. 

It was even better than their kiss at the Ren Faire, because she knew now that this wasn’t just two characters playing a part: what they felt for each other was real. 

When Ben finally pulled back, they just stared at each other for a moment, their eyes wide and their faces flushed.

Ben glanced down at the ground, as if suddenly nervous about something, and cleared his throat. “Rey, maybe it’s too soon to say this, but I have to tell you that I lo—”

That perfect, beautiful, magical moment was interrupted by the loud buzz of Ben’s cell phone in his pocket. 

Cursing, Ben fumbled to grab the phone, apologizing profusely. 

“I’m so sorry — I should have turned this damn thing off,” he said. “I can’t believe someone would be calling me this late. I wonder…”

His voice trailed off, and Rey saw the light in his eyes start to fade, replaced by dismay. 

“Why is Professor Snoke calling me?” he asked, and Rey felt her temper flaring — not about Ben, of course. It wasn’t his fault his horrible professor was being a jerk and calling super late on a weekend. Rey wanted to take Ben’s phone, immediately call Snoke back, and tell him to leave Ben alone — along with some other, more strongly worded things — but she knew that it wasn’t really her business to do that. 

She could tell Ben wanted to ignore the call, but seconds after his phone stopping ringing, a text message from Snoke popped up, saying, “Call me as soon as possible, Ben — it’s urgent.”


	7. The course of true love never did run smooth

Rey wanted to reach through Ben’s cell phone and punch Professor Snoke in the face. She already knew that whatever he had to say to Ben, it wasn’t actually “urgent.” This was just some kind of stupid, manipulative power move on Snoke’s part, and Rey was tired of watching him treat Ben like this. 

She could tell by the look in Ben’s eyes that if she asked him to, he’d put the phone away and ignore Snoke’s message, and they could go back to their previously scheduled activity (i.e. making out). However, Rey knew that the vague message from Snoke would continue to haunt Ben, and he probably wouldn’t be able to relax until he knew what it was about. She also didn’t want to be like Snoke and try to control Ben’s actions; she would let him decide on his own whether he thought this was a call he needed to take. 

“You can call him back — I really don’t mind,” Rey said, squeezing his hand. 

“Are you sure?” Ben still seemed hesitant. “I don’t want to be the guy who takes a work phone call on a first date. You’d have every right to be mad at me if I ignored you like that.”

Rey laughed dryly. “Oh believe me, I’m not mad at you — you’ve done nothing wrong. Your horrible boss, however, is a different story.”

She saw the relief filling Ben’s eyes, and she realized how much he really did want to please her and make her feel special tonight. He was so afraid of disappointing or hurting her, when the truth was that Rey didn’t blame him at all for this interruption. Her heart twisted as she thought of what Snoke had put him through in the past to make him this anxious.

Ben called Snoke back, and even though he didn’t have the phone on speaker, Snoke’s voice was loud enough that she could hear every word he said. 

“Ben, thanks for getting back to me so quickly,” Snoke said. “Are you on campus tonight? I thought I saw your car in the parking lot as I was driving into the office to pick up some paperwork.”

Rey clenched her hands into fists and forced herself to keep her mouth shut. Of course Snoke would be enough of a jerk to spy on Ben like that; he was probably afraid that Ben had gone to the back to school bash or otherwise participated in some sort of fun activity Snoke disapproved of. 

“Uh yeah,” Ben said vaguely. “What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry to bother you so late,” Snoke said (Rey knew he wasn’t). “But an exciting opportunity has come up that I wanted you to know about. A representative from First Order Tech is having lunch with me tomorrow — she was very impressed with your internship application, and she’d like you to join us.”

“Wow, that is exciting,” Ben said, though Rey noticed his eyes didn’t light up the same way they had when he was doing something he was passionate about, like playing the piano. “But I don’t think I can make it — tomorrow’s the last day of the Ren Faire, and I won’t be done with that until the evening.”

The silence on the other end of the phone was damning. When Snoke finally did speak, his tone hadn’t changed, but he somehow managed to perfectly convey just how displeased he was. 

“Ben, I know you feel you have a responsibility to that little festival every year, but this is an important step in your future career,” Snoke said. “As I understand it, this internship is basically yours as long as the lunch goes well. If you decide to skip it, your dedication to the job might be called into question.”

Ben’s face paled. “No, I really do want the job,” he said, as if he were trying to convince both Snoke and himself of the truth of that statement. “But I can’t just back out on my commitment to my mom and the Ren Faire.”

“Your dedication is admirable,” Snoke said, and Rey had no idea how he made a compliment sound like an insult. “Tell you what — I’ll give you a little time to think about it. Let me know tomorrow morning what you’ve decided. If you can’t come to lunch, I’m sure another one of my students, such as Phasma, could step in...”

Snoke didn’t finish his thought, and he didn’t have to. Ben and Rey both knew what he was implying: if Ben didn’t skip the last day of the Ren Faire, Phasma would get the internship instead. Snoke thought he had found the perfect bargaining chip...and maybe he had. 

“Okay thanks, Professor,” Ben said. Although Rey could tell Snoke had hung up right after that, Ben kept staring at the phone screen for a little while longer. 

There was so much Rey wanted to say right now. 

To tell Ben that he should do what he felt was right, not just what Snoke wanted him to do. 

To tell him that getting an internship shouldn’t define his self-worth.

To tell him that he didn’t need Snoke to be successful. 

Yet Rey sensed that right now, Ben didn’t need advice, from either Snoke or her. What he really needed was some quiet time alone to think, and for her to let him know that her feelings for him weren’t based on what he did or didn’t do. 

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Rey said, standing up on her tip-toes and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I had an amazing time.”

Ben looked slightly panicked. “No Rey, you don’t have to go. I’ll...I’ll deal with that internship thing later. I don’t want to rush this or...or to push you away.”

Rey gave him an admonishing look. “You are not pushing me away, Ben Solo. I could stand here for another hour at least ranting about Snoke and how I feel about him, but that probably wouldn’t be helpful. I’ll stay for moral support if you want me to, but if you need quiet time to be alone and think, I respect that. I can get a ride home with Rose and Finn.”

Ben let out a long, slow sigh. “Well, I don’t want you to go, but you’re right — I’ve got some thinking to do. Thanks for being understanding, Rey. I really don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, you do.” 

Rey couldn’t help herself — she knew she needed to leave, but she had to give him one last kiss before slipping out the door. 

***

There was no good-natured teasing about Rey’s date on the ride home with Rose and Finn. They could tell something was bothering her as soon as they spotted her at the back to school bash without Ben. Even though Rey insisted that they didn’t have to leave the dance yet, Rose drove straight back to Rey’s house — only stopping along the way to pick up some triple chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. 

Finn sat in the back seat of the car with Rey, placing a comforting hand on her arm, and no one asked her a single question until she was ready to share. 

As they all plopped down on Rey’s couch with huge bowls of chocolate ice cream, Rey shared the entire evening’s events, starting the positive (how magical the whole date had felt) and then the negative (Snoke’s phone call).

“Ugh, that man is such a villain!” Rose exclaimed, her eyes flashing. “I don’t blame you for wanting to punch him through the phone.”

“Did I make the right decision — I mean, should I have stayed with Ben?” Rey said. “I didn’t want him to feel abandoned, but I was also afraid that my being there would make him feel pressured to make a certain decision.”

“No, you did the right thing,” Rose assured her. “You let him know you care, and you also gave him the freedom to make his own choice. It sounds like Snoke isn’t interested in doing that himself.”

“I like Ben — I mean I really, really like him,” Rey said. “I wasn’t prepared to feel so much for him so soon, and I don’t want Snoke to drive him away…”

Rey didn’t even realize she was crying until she felt the tears slipping down her cheeks. Both Finn and Rose immediately wrapped their arms around her, and they allowed her to simply cry and release the emotions that had been building up inside her. 

It felt strange to be so invested in a relationship that wasn’t even a full-blown relationship yet — she and Ben had only gone on one official date. Although she’d never really believed in the concept of soulmates, there was just something special about Ben. They’d spent most of the summer arguing, but that spark of something else had always been there. She felt a deep connection with him, despite their brief time together. 

“Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Rey said, finally wiping her eyes and taking a deep, shuddering breath. 

“I think you _just might_ be in love,” Rose said gently. “And that’s wonderful and beautiful and scary and risky. I can’t promise you that Ben will never break your heart, but if you like him, then I trust him too.”

“You two are the best, you know that?” Rey said, smiling through her tears as she looked at both her friends. “This is definitely NOT how I thought the summer was going to go, and I’d be a mess without the two of you.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Finn said. “Moral support AND ice cream.” He plopped another large scoop of ice cream into Rey’s bowl. “We’re not leaving until you feel better and all the ice cream’s gone!”

***

Ben leaned against the railing of the observation deck on the university clocktower, feeling like he was being pulled in a thousand different directions and having no idea which was the right one. 

He hated watching Rey go, but she was right — he did need time to think. He had some big decisions to make that honestly he’d been putting off for far too long.

Until he’d met Rey, he felt like he’d been floundering. His teenage years had been very tumultuous (that was probably putting it mildly). He’d had more shouting matches with his parents than he could count, and he’d wanted to leave the town of Pinewood behind literally as soon as he could. 

But then came his dad’s cancer diagnosis, and Ben had started scrambling to get his life back in shape. He worked as hard as he could at school, and wouldn’t settle for any grade less than an “A,” no matter how many times his mom told him that his worth wasn’t defined by academic prowess. He had also thrown himself whole-heartedly into volunteering at the Ren Faire, as a way to keep his dad’s memory alive. 

That’s when Professor James Snoke had entered his life. Snoke was a nationally-renowned scholar, and when he’d offered Ben a position as a grad assistant, Ben had assumed that it was fate for him to take it. Snoke would give him the push he needed to get his life on track, and then he wouldn’t be a disappointment to his parents. 

His mom didn’t like Snoke — she hadn’t said so explicitly, but Ben could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t a fan. Rey hadn’t bothered to hide her dislike for Snoke at all. 

For a long time, Ben had tried to justify Snoke’s strict rules; the professor pushed his students so hard because he wanted to help them be successful. But deep down he’d also known the truth: Snoke was a manipulative bully. Ben probably should have quit a long time ago, but he was afraid that Snoke wouldn’t take it well. The professor had a lot of industry connections, and a negative comment from him about Ben could make getting a job after college a lot more difficult. 

And so Ben had put up with Snoke’s controlling nature, gradually retreating more and more inside himself and pushing away the things that brought him joy, like playing the piano. Snoke had kept him so busy that Ben’s date with Rey tonight was actually the first date he’d been on in a year. 

The one thing he hadn’t let Snoke take away from him was the Ren Faire. He knew Snoke saw his involvement in the festival as a waste of time and a distraction, but it meant too much to Ben’s family for him to give it up. He’d always been able to make it work — finding enough time for his job and the Ren Faire — until Snoke’s ultimatum tonight. He’d either have to skip out on the Ren Faire tomorrow (and probably quit permanently, if Snoke had his way), or lose the internship with First Order Tech and likely Snoke’s support for any other job he might apply for.

And then, in the middle of all of this, was Rey. He hadn’t been prepared for her to burst into his life, challenging his B.S. (rightly so) and making him fall helplessly, hopelessly in love with her. Snoke had commented several times about how “distracted” Ben seemed lately, but that wasn’t how Ben saw it. Whenever she was around, Rey made him feel better about himself, more confident. When he was with her, he felt like he was the best version of “Ben Solo.” 

He was so afraid he’d completely blown any chance he had with her after that first Ren Faire meeting, but then she’d flirted with him at The Falcon’s Nest and shown that, even after all his mistakes, she was still interested in him. Although he was completely terrified of what her response would be, the next day he’d sent her that note asking her to meet him in the Fairy Forest. 

He’d waited in the forest with a knot in his stomach for what felt like forever, and then she’d shone up, looking like the heroine from a fantasy novel, with light and fire burning in her eyes. Kissing her felt like a transcendental experience, and in that moment, he’d known he couldn’t live without her. 

If he accepted the internship that Snoke was offering him, First Order Tech would devour the tiny bit of free time he had left in his life. He’d have to move to another state, and then Rey would graduate from Pinewood University and they might not ever see each other again. 

He realized he’d have to choose between his life in Pinewood — his life with Rey and his mother, and volunteering at the Ren Faire — and the life Snoke was offering him. 

He glanced back down at his phone and began to dial Snoke’s number. 

He knew what he had to do. 

***

Rey woke up the final morning of the Ren Faire feeling like she was hungover. She hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol — just a third of a giant bucket of chocolate ice cream — but she’d tossed and turned all night and felt even more exhausted than when she’d collapsed into her bed long after midnight. 

Once the haze in her brain finally began to clear, her first thought was of Ben Solo, and wondering what decision he’d made last night. Had he texted her to let her know what he’d decided? If he hadn’t sent anything, should she text him?

She reached for her phone, and that’s when she made several important discoveries:

1\. She wouldn’t have to wonder whether or not she should text Ben because her phone’s battery was completely dead, after she’d forgotten to charge it overnight. 

2\. Because the phone’s battery was dead, her alarm hadn’t gone off.

3\. And because her alarm hadn’t gone off, she had _waaay_ overslept and she had exactly two minutes to get ready, eat breakfast, and jump into Rose’s car. 

Letting out a string of curses, Rey stumbled out of bed and threw on the closest T-shirt and pair of shorts she could find. She grabbed the package of Oreo cookies sitting on the counter (it would have to suffice for breakfast), and ran outside right as Rose pulled up in her car. 

In some ways, maybe it was better to start the morning off on such a frantic note, because it distracted her from the sadness she’d have otherwise felt that this was the last day of the Ren Faire. Volunteering had been an incredibly fun experience, and she realized she wasn’t ready for it to be over. Especially since, as a college senior, she might not even be in Pinewood next summer. 

Hux gave Rey a big hug after helping her get dressed in her costume for the last time, and even had a small gift for her: a pair of earrings exactly like the ones that went with her costume, except these were hers to keep permanently. 

Rey hadn’t told Hux anything about her and Ben’s increasingly complicated relationship status, but Hux was good at reading between the lines, and before Rey left for the Ren Faire, he winked and told her, “Don’t give up on a certain pirate just yet.”

She didn’t see Ben when she arrived at the Ren Faire and wanted to stop by the pirate ship to look for him, but Kaydel asked for some help carrying boxes to the tavern and then it was time for Rey to begin her shift. 

She’d really enjoyed working with the other tavern volunteers, and she was going to miss their fun banter. Despite the morning’s rough beginning, Rey felt her spirits start to lift as she served a round of drinks to the day’s first customers. She decided that what she needed to do was allow herself to relax and enjoy the last day of volunteering, and trust that everything would work out with Ben. For all she knew, he could have already tried to message or call her, but she didn’t know it because her phone battery was dead. 

Rey tapped her foot in time to Amilyn Holdo and The Resistance’s music, and cheered with the rest of the crowd when they finished up their set. She was just about to ask Amilyn and the other musicians if they needed a glass of water, when her attention was drawn to the doorway of the tavern. 

An impeccably well-dressed man in a business suit had just stepped into the tavern, looking out of place in the medieval environment. Rey was so shocked to see him that it took her a moment to process who it was. 

_Professor James Snoke._

What was he doing here? She had no idea, but it couldn’t be good. Everyone knew that he positively hated the Ren Faire.

She hoped that maybe he’d just stopped in for a drink, but she could tell from the way he was watching her that he’d come to speak directly to her. 

She tried to act casual (and control her urge to punch him) as he walked up to the bar. 

“Rey Johnson, so good to see you,” he said with a smile that was more menacing than friendly. “Would you have a moment to talk?”


	8. All the world’s a stage

_“Would you have a moment to talk?”_

Rey’s mind spun as she tried to think of the best response to Professor Snoke’s request. What she really wanted to do was glare at him and tell him “no way in hell,” but she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of the other customers who were currently relaxing and enjoying the tavern’s ambiance. 

Alternatively, she could just inform him — with faked politeness, of course — that she was on duty and wasn’t able to chat right now. However, she couldn’t deny that she was curious about what he had to say. Although Snoke might hate the Ren Faire with a passion, apparently he felt that whatever he had to say to Rey was important enough to actually pay the admission fee and come to the tavern to talk to her face to face. 

“Do you mind if I take a short break?” Rey asked the other volunteers, and they agreed, although they looked a little puzzled that she would actually want to talk to Professor Snoke. Rey stepped away from the bar and faced the professor, wondering what in the world this was all about. 

“I understand you’ve been spending some time with my graduate assistant, Ben Solo,” Snoke said coolly. “Quite a bit of time, actually.”

“Yes, we’ve been hanging out,” Rey replied. She wasn’t going to volunteer anymore information than she had to, especially not before she’d figured out what Snoke was playing at here. 

“Ben is a very smart young man, with a prestigious career ahead of him — IF he’s willing to put in the work,” Snoke went on. “Lately I’ve felt a little concerned that he’s becoming distracted from this path to success.”

“No matter how delicately you try to phrase it, I know what you’re implying,” Rey said, her eyes narrowing. To Snoke, she was the distraction jeopardizing Ben’s future success. 

“Well, I’m glad we understand each other.” Snoke gave her a thin smile. “I suppose you already know about the little phone call I received from Ben last night then.”

Rey felt her heart skip. Last night? She thought that Snoke’s instructions in his ultimatum had specified that Ben give him a call in the morning after thinking about the internship. Ben must have made a decision much quicker than she (or Snoke) anticipated. She couldn’t believe she’d allowed her stupid phone battery to die; what if he’d tried to call her or text her about what he’d decided, and now thought she was ignoring him?

“Ben informed me that he won’t be joining myself and the First Order Tech representative at lunch today,” Snoke said. “Furthermore, he said that he planned to formally withdraw his application for the internship, and he also gave me his two week notice and said he would be quitting his job as my graduate assistant.”

Rey wished she’d been standing closer to a chair, because her knees were feeling suddenly weak and she feared she might topple over at any minute. 

She’d hoped that Ben would reject the lunch invitation so that he could enjoy his final day at the Ren Faire, but she hadn’t expected him to go this far, this fast. Apparently he’d decided to sever every single tie he had with Snoke, and the professor WAS NOT HAVING IT. 

“I hadn’t heard that,” Rey said, which was the truth. Maybe Ben had tried to tell her, but she had no access to her phone thanks to that dead battery. 

“Really?” Snoke raised an eyebrow. “I assumed you had instructed him exactly what to do.”

Until this moment, Rey had done a pretty good job remaining calm and keeping her temper in check, but this was a step too far. She was not going to allow Snoke to stand here and demean both her and Ben like this. 

“I did NOT tell Ben what to do,” Rey fired back. “He is his own, independent person, and I actually left our date early last night so he could have quiet time alone to think about what he wanted to do. Of course I wanted him to cut your toxic B.S. out of his life, but because I care about him, I wanted to give him the freedom to make his own decision. And it sounds like he finally IS free, on his own terms.”

Snoke gripped the handle of his briefcase, the only indication that he was starting to lose his cool. “I don’t know how you managed to seduce my star pupil, and I will not just stand by and watch you sabotage his future. Ben needs this internship to be successful, and he was very excited about it until you came into his life.”

“Me?” Rey asked incredulously. She knew she was raising her voice and people were starting to stare, but she decided it didn’t matter. Someone had to stop Snoke’s bullying behavior. “Ben and I spent most of the summer arguing, actually, so don’t accuse me of having some grand, elaborate plan to ‘lead him astray.’ This was his choice, on his own, and you need to respect it.”

Rey could see the angry fire burning behind Snoke’s eyes, and then all of sudden it winked out, replaced by a cold malice. 

“You’re going to be a senior this semester, aren’t you, Rey?” he asked, quiet enough that only she could hear. “I’ll have you know that I have a lot of connections within the university, and academia at large. If you don’t break your ties with Ben and allow him to come back to his senses, I could make things very difficult for you to graduate and find a—”

“What’s going on?”

The sudden voice brought an end to Rey and Snoke’s conversation, as they both turned and saw Ben Solo standing in the doorway of The Falcon’s Nest. 

Ben was wearing his pirate captain’s costume and looking as dashing as ever, but the deep concern in his eyes was not part of the character he was currently playing. 

Snoke straightened and gave Ben his most benign smile. 

“Ben! Good to see you. I was just having a little chat with Rey, and I planned to stop by and see you next. I’m hoping you’ll still accompany me to the luncheon with First Order Tech today. I think perhaps there’s been a misunderstanding between us.” 

“I don’t know what you mean by misunderstanding,” Ben said. “Because I told you last night — very respectfully but firmly — that I can’t come to the luncheon today and that I’m declining the internship. It’s not the right fit for me.”

Snoke wouldn’t dare to show an emotion such as panic in front of a person he was trying to manipulate, but in spite of his impressive amount of self-control, Rey could indeed see some panic kindling in his eyes. He’d bossed Ben around for so long that he’d taken it for granted that Ben would never really stand up for himself. 

“I won’t lie to you, Ben — I’m a little troubled by this abrupt change of heart,” Snoke said, desperately trying to regain control over the situation. “You were so committed to that internship, and I’m having trouble understanding why you’d just cast it aside.”

“It’s just that...well, I never really did want to do that internship. I’m sorry, I should have been honest from the beginning.” Ben had such pain in his eyes, and it infuriated Rey that Snoke refused to acknowledge just how miserable he’d made his student. “I thought it would be good for me and help me to be successful, but I was pressuring myself to be something I wasn’t. I don’t know right now what I want to do with the rest of my life, and I think that’s okay. I just know that I want to stay in Pinewood.”

Ben looked directly at Rey as he said that last sentence, and Rey felt this wonderful warmth blossoming in her chest. Unfortunately, Snoke’s expression soured, spoiling what should have been a special moment. 

“There is no future for you here in Pinewood, Ben,” Snoke said, his tone clipped. “I thought you knew that. If this girl has distracted you from your—”

“No.” Ben’s cheeks were turning red now — not from embarrassment, but from anger. “This _woman_ is a wonderful student and Ren Faire volunteer, and she has made me a better person. She’s worth far more to me than that internship. If I have to choose between them — which is exactly what you’re making me do — then I will always choose her. I love her, and that matters more than whatever you define as ‘success.’”

Rey felt positively dizzy right now, but in the best way possible. 

_I love her, I love her, I love her…_

No one had ever declared that they were in love with her before. She’d always thought that her first “I love you” would come in a quieter, more intimate moment, but she had no complaints about this. Ben Solo was standing up for her in front of his terrible boss, and he wasn’t afraid to admit how he felt about her. 

“Well!” Snoke huffed, otherwise at a loss for words. He could feel Ben slipping from his control and he hated it, but it was clear he didn’t know what else to do. Although Rey was still a little worried about his threat to sabotage her college career, right now standing here with Ben, she believed that somehow things would turn out all right. 

“I won’t stand for this!” Snoke finally managed to splutter, at last losing his professional facade. 

Rey had no idea where the conversation was going to go from here, but fortunately they were saved by an unexpected royal visit. 

Queen Leia hadn’t yet stopped by The Falcon’s Nest tavern during this year’s Ren Faire, and the guests immediately responded with an excited round of clapping. Whether Leia’s appearance at this moment was simply a stroke of good luck, or whether she’d heard Snoke from outside and decided to intervene, she couldn’t have appeared at a better time. 

“Hello, good citizens of Pinewood!” Leia declared, as her guards filed into the tavern and stood behind her at attention. Rey caught sight of Finn playing one of the queen’s guards, wearing his suit of chainmail, and he gave her a puzzled look as he noticed Snoke standing near her and Ben. 

Rey mouthed “It’s all right,” and then waited to see what Leia would do next. 

Today Leia was dressed in a gorgeous, dark purple gown with a silver crown on her head. A dark purple cape trailed on the ground behind her, embroidered with hundreds of tiny silver stars. She might not actually be a real queen, but today she certainly looked the part. 

The queen went from table to table, greeting all the guests in the tavern until she finally stopped in front of Snoke, Rey, and Ben. 

“Your majesty,” Ben said with a formal bow. “Always a pleasure.” 

Leia raised an eyebrow. “I see the pirate has strayed from his ship. I hope you’re not planning to pillage this fine tavern.”

“Of course not,” Ben said, slipping easily into character. “The only thing I’ve come here to steal is hearts.” He shot a quick glance at Rey that made her heart flutter again. “Or at least, that’s my hope.”

Rey saw a slight twinkle in Leia’s eyes. 

“The Falcon’s Nest tavern has never looked better,” the queen said, turning to Rey. “The crown commends you for providing such wonderful service to the travelers who visit our land. But as for you…” She paused and looked at Snoke, her smile fading. “I certainly hope that you are not creating trouble on the final day of our Faire.”

Snoke’s eyes narrowed. “There’s no need to stay in character with me, Professor Organa. Don’t you think this is all a bit silly? I came here to talk to your son about a very important topic and I demand to be taken—”

The look in Leia’s eyes was as cold as ice, and despite Snoke’s taunt, she most certainly did NOT break character.

“Captain — do you indeed wish to speak with this man?” she asked her son. 

“I believe he and I have said all we need to say, M’Lady,” Ben replied. 

“Then we would ask you kindly, good sir, to leave this place — immediately,” Leia told Snoke. “The faire is a safe and welcoming place for all, and we do not tolerate bullying behavior, which you have so recently been exhibiting.”

For a moment, Snoke just stood there silently, staring first at Ben, then at Rey, and finally at Leia. He seemed to accept that he had lost this battle. He might be a prestigious professor, but Leia Organa was very well loved at Pinewood University, and if he caused a scene in public, it would reflect badly on him. And in the end, the most important thing to Snoke was HIS future and HIS reputation. 

“Very well,” he said stiffly. “I have other important matters to deal with today and I don’t intend to waste more of my time at this frivolous event.” He took one last look at Ben. “I hope you understand the gravity of your mistake today. An internship at First Order Tech could have led to a full-time job that would have set you up for the future: as much wealth and power as you could possibly want. You were always my first choice for the internship, but I’m sure Phasma will be more appreciative. I’m going to go call her and give her the good news.”

“I really hope it works out for her,” Ben said, and Rey could tell he genuinely meant that, and wished Phasma the best. Snoke nodded, and then strode out of the tavern. Rey hoped this would be the last time she’d have to run into Snoke in the town of Pinewood. She was sure he would avoid her after this, which suited her perfectly fine. 

Leia put a hand on Ben’s shoulder, and for one small moment, she did allow herself to break character. 

“I’m proud of you, son,” she said quietly, and Rey could see Ben’s eyes watering as he reached out and squeezed his mom’s hand. 

“Thanks, mom,” he said. Rey knew they’d probably have a more in-depth conversation about all of this later, but right now seeing the joy and love in Leia’s eyes was all Ben needed. 

“I’d offer to work your shift at the tavern for a few minutes so the two of you could have some time to talk,” Leia told Rey, and Rey was touched by the generosity of that offer. Especially since the queen of the faire serving drinks at the bar would probably cause quite a stir. “Unfortunately, I have a knighting ceremony that starts in about five minutes, and the faire-goers might be a little disgruntled if there’s a royal no-show.” She gave them a quick wink before waving goodbye to the tavern patrons and heading back to the queen’s tent. 

“I probably need to go too,” Ben added reluctantly. “I’m supposed to duel Poe on the pirate ship in a little while. He WILL come looking for me if I don’t show up on time.”

“I understand,” Rey chuckled. “I’m sure the people will also be disappointed if there’s no handsome pirate captain on the ship.”

Ben’s face reddened just slightly at the words “handsome pirate captain.”

“I’m so sorry Snoke came here to bully you,” he said, lingering just a little longer. “I can’t believe he would do that to you. You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“In a way, I actually didn’t mind hearing a small part of what he had to say,” Rey confessed. “I’d been dying to know what you decided to do about the internship, but my phone battery died overnight and I haven’t been able to check any of my messages.”

A light of realization dawned in Ben’s eyes, and he started to laugh. “Man, I’m glad to hear you say that — when you didn’t reply to my text I was terrified I’d done something stupid and pushed you away.”

Rey shook her head. “What a day this has been — I don’t even know how to start processing all of this.”

“Meet me after the faire tonight?” Ben asked, looking down at her with his big brown eyes. 

Rey felt a delicious little shiver. “The Fairy Forest?”

“Actually...meet me at the dock by the pirate ship,” Ben said. “I thought maybe we could commandeer one of the little boats they use to give people rides at the faire and go look at the stars and talk about some things.”

“That sounds magical,” Rey grinned. She was still marveling that Ben Solo — the man she’d assumed was impossibly grumpy when she first met him — was actually impossibly romantic. 

Ben started to go, but before he’d taken more than a few steps, he turned back around and leaned towards her, telling her softly, “And I meant what I said when Snoke was here — I’m in love with you, Rey. I really, truly, deeply am.”


	9. We are such stuff as dreams are made on

Rey’s feelings were bittersweet as she served pints of ale to the final two customers of the day and then closed the doors of The Falcon’s Nest tavern until next summer. 

Rey had spent so much time rehearsing and preparing for the festival, and now it was all over. She wouldn’t get to wear her tavern manager costume again, which she’d really come to love and now felt as natural to her as throwing on her favorite tank top and shorts. She knew she could always come back and volunteer again next summer, but she’d be graduating in the spring and didn’t know what life held for her after that. She realized that in many ways, the town of Pinewood had come to feel like home to her. 

After the Ren Faire closed to the public, all the volunteers were encouraged to stick around and socialize, enjoying the ambiance for one last night before coming back in the morning to deconstruct everything and pack it up for next year. 

Rose and Finn walked over to the tavern after they finished up their final shifts, bringing a plate of pastries to share. Rey poured them each a pint of ale (every volunteer was allowed to have a free drink on the house tonight). They sat at a table near the hearth, enjoying the crackling fire as they chatted about their day. 

“I think I might actually cry a little as I drive away tonight,” Rose admitted, polishing off her last bite of vegetable pot pie. (Rey had eaten one too — the crust was so buttery and flaky that it practically melted in your mouth.) “This has been THE BEST experience. Thanks for telling us to do this, Finn.”

Finn leaned back and grinned as he took a sip from his mug of ale. “I’m so glad my best friends could do it with me. We might not all be living in Pinewood next year, but we should make a promise to at least try to come back and attend the faire for one day.”

Rey nodded. “Deal. And maybe we could...well...invite Ben to join us too. At least, if you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Of course not!” Finn said. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s one of us now. Also, I’m so glad he told Professor Snoke to shove off today. That was the highlight of the faire for me, honestly. Snoke was so mad he looked like he was going to explode, but there was nothing he could do about it.”

Although as a member of the queen’s guard, Finn had witnessed Snoke storming out of The Falcon’s Nest in a huff after Leia asked him to leave the faire, Rose had missed out on the action. In the afternoon Rey had finally borrowed a portable cell phone charger from one of the other tavern volunteers so she could text Rose a recap of everything that had happened. 

Rose had sent a full five lines of heart emojis after Rey had admitted that Ben said he loved her. And Rey was so giddy that she texted a full five lines of heart emojis back. 

“You know, Hux supposedly plays the villain of the faire, but this year it was definitely Snoke,” Rose said. “I’m so, so happy for you, Rey — falling in love at the Ren Faire is the most romantic thing ever.”

“See, I told you that you and Ben would be dating by the end of the summer,” Finn said, and Rey laughed. 

“I’m so happy right now that I can’t even be mad for pulling an ‘I told you so.’”

“So, where are you meeting your man tonight?” Finn asked with a wink. “Because we know you’re going to. How are you gonna top the Fairy Forest and the university clocktower?”

“Oh, just a little boat ride on the lake,” Rey said casually. “I think tonight we get to have the ‘let’s define the relationship’ conversation.”

Rose clapped her hands together excitedly. “Oh, this is so fun! You should get out of here and go find him. Finn and I were planning to go hang out in the queen’s tent; Amilyn and The Resistance are doing a jam session and there’s gonna be more food.”

“Well, definitely save me a pumpkin pastry then!” Rey stood up and gave each of her friends a goodbye hug, lingering even longer than she normally did for friend hugs and finding herself more than a little misty-eyed. Their experience next year at the faire might be very different, and she wanted to savor this last moment of three friends hanging out in a medieval tavern, having a drink and a laugh. 

Although the faire was now closed to the public, the atmosphere still felt alive with merriment and possibility as Rey stepped outside the tavern. The moon was full, the stars were twinkling up above her, and a warm breeze tousled her hair. She could already hear the music from the queen’s tent and the sound of (slightly tipsy) voices singing along. The lights from the Fairy Forest glowed softly, and she could smell the final round of pot pies coming out of the ovens. She wished she could somehow bottle up how all of this looked and smelled and sounded and felt, so she could keep it with her always. 

She skipped towards the lake, eventually taking off her shoes so she could feel the cool grass beneath her toes. (She figured it was okay to do a little frolicking now that she was off duty.) She was glad she’d decided to wear her costume just a little bit longer and maintain the fantasy. She didn’t want to waste time feeling sad that this was her last night at the Ren Faire; she wanted to spend her time just enjoying it. 

She spotted Ben standing over by the water’s edge near the pirate ship. Although he’d ditched his hat and his heavy coat, he was still wearing his costume as well. Rey never would have pegged him as the sentimental type, but apparently he too wanted to keep the magic lingering a little bit longer. 

When he turned around and saw her, his eyes lit up and filled her stomach with wonderful dancing butterflies. Of course it felt delightful to have him look at her like she was the most beautiful creature in the world, but more than that, she loved seeing just how free he looked tonight. He no longer had the internship problem dragging him down, and he didn’t have to worry about constantly pleasing Snoke. He was done hiding behind a mask — he could finally be whoever he wanted. 

Ben took her by the hands and spun her around. “We have until midnight to do whatever we want, and the choice is yours.” 

“Is this like Cinderella, where you have to be home by midnight before the spell breaks?” she teased, and Ben chuckled. 

“Not quite — that’s just when they finally kick all of us out of the faire. But they’re never very strict about that deadline; they know everybody’s worked really hard, and all of us are sad to leave the festival on the last day.”

“Then let’s pretend it’s not the last day, and that we’re just a pirate and a tavern owner, out on an adventure,” Rey said, and Ben gave her a bow. 

“As you wish, then. Your carriage — er, boat — awaits.”

Was the line a little cheesy? Yes. Did Rey absolutely love? Also yes. 

Ben helped her into the boat, and then he pushed it away from the shore, hopping in as it drifted towards the center of the lake. For a while, they just sat quietly, admiring the view and listening to the music floating on the air. 

Ben slipped his hand into hers, and she savored the feeling of their fingers intertwining. She was dying to talk about everything that had happened today, but this moment was so perfect just as it was that she feared talking might spoil it. Right now, she just watched the moonlight flickering on the water and listened to the crickets humming in the distance. 

“Rey, I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened the past couple of days,” Ben finally said once they’d reached the center of the lake. He withdrew his hand from hers and shook his head. “I know I already apologized earlier for how Snoke treated you, but I feel like you deserve to hear it from me one more time. That mess should have been just between me and Snoke; I’m sorry he harassed you.”

“I’m sorry for all the ways he’s harassed _you_ ,” Rey replied. “And tried to turn you into something you’re not. You’re perfect just the way you are, Ben Solo — Professor Snoke should have seen that.”

Ben glanced away, both embarrassed and pleased by her praise. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life now. Snoke had everything planned out for me, and now that’s all gone. I’m supposed to have one year left before I finish my master’s degree. I think I still want to study business, but...well...not the way Snoke wanted me to. I don’t really want some high-powered, high-pressure internship. Like I told Snoke earlier, I think I really do want to stay in Pinewood, and see what opportunities I can find here.”

“Well, you could buy The Scavenger’s Boutique,” Rey blurted out before she quite realized what she was doing. 

Ben gave her a puzzled look. “You mean the thrift store on Main Street where you work? Mr. Plutt’s owned that place forever. I didn’t know he was selling it.”

“Not officially,” Rey quickly explained. “But this summer he’s started to grumble about wanting to retire. The shop has gotten a little rundown over the years, but it still has a lot of potential. In fact, Amilyn Holdo was thinking about maybe buying it since she also owns the café next door. Maybe you could partner with her?”

“I was actually thinking about talking to Amilyn anyway,” Ben confessed. “She said she was looking for some live musicians to play at her café occasionally, and I thought about applying.” He turned a little bit sheepish. “Nobody probably remembers this, but back in high school, Poe, Hux, and I actually had a band. Our music was super loud and super angsty.”

Rey giggled at the unlikely thought of teenage Ben, Poe, and Hux playing dramatic music together. “Please tell me you had an amazing name for this band.”

Ben grimaced. “I’m afraid not. We thought we were too cool for labels, so we always went by ‘Unnamed Band.’ There was sooo much black leather and guyliner. My mom still has one of the posters we made to promote one of our shows, but I made her promise to keep it hidden deep inside her basement, never to see the light of day.”

“So...is Unnamed Band going to have a reunion performance at The Spark Café?” Rey asked, but Ben shook his head. 

“Not exactly. Hux told me that he’d never appear in what he called our ‘ridiculous costumes’ again. But, he was willing to get together for a jam session with Poe and I. I’ve been neglecting music — and my old friends — for too long, and that’s part of the changes I’m planning to make. But anyway, I’ve spent way too much time tonight talking about myself — what does life look like for you this semester and beyond, Rey?”

Rey shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat. She’d loved her time at Pinewood University, and it was much easier to just focus on her senior year than on what would happen after it. 

“I always kinda assumed I’d go back to London, but there’s nothing in particular I’d actually be going back to,” she said. “My family...well...I’ve made peace with the fact that they won’t be coming back into my life. Rose and Finn are my family now, but I don’t know where their careers will take them.” 

She paused, and took a deep breath. “I really, really like Pinewood, Ben. I promise I’m not just saying that. I could see myself staying here. And not to be too forward, because we haven’t been dating that long, but I’m open to the possibility of staying here with _you_.”

“I...I’d like that,” Ben said, his voice cracking ever-so-slightly and betraying just how much she’d touched him. “I guess this means we’re making it official then?”

“Making what official?” Rey teased, giving him a saucy grin. “Meeting up at random locations around Pinewood and making out?”

“I mean, I’m always in favor of that,” Ben said. “But I’d love something even deeper. I’d like to officially date you, Rey Johnson. I want to completely lose track of time together and stay up way too late talking. I want to debate music and movies and books over cups of coffee at The Spark Café. I want to hold hands and go walking through the snow this fall on campus. I want to spend every day letting you know just how much I adore you.”

“Well, that sounds perfectly wonderful — I’d officially like to accept.” Rey leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. “And as my first real boyfriend, you also automatically earn the title of best boyfriend I’ve ever had.”

“I’ll try to live up to that,” Ben laughed, his eyes twinkling. 

They fell into silence again, but there was nothing awkward or uncomfortable about the lull in conversation. It was that warm, cozy sort of quiet that could only be shared by two people who felt safe and accepted by each other. 

Ben eventually picked up the oars again and started rowing around the lake, as Rey trailed her fingers through the water. Soon, they just started talking, about anything and everything. She couldn’t believe it had taken them so long to stop arguing and recognize the chemistry they had together. She could spend the whole night talking to Ben Solo and still feel like she needed to know more. 

The time slipped by too quickly, and they realized they only had about 15 minutes left until midnight. Ben asked if she wanted to spend their last moments at the faire on the lake, or if she wanted to go back to shore. 

Rey thought for just a moment, and then she shot him a devious grin. “You know what, Captain? I’d like to see your pirate ship. I used to think it was just a prop, but Finn said you can actually get tours belowdecks. I’ve never been on a real ship before, and I’m terribly curious.”

Ben nodded. “The lady’s wish is my command.”

He rowed over to the dock, and then helped Rey out of the boat and up the gangplank onto the pirate ship. Rey could feel the deck rocking gently beneath her feet, and she suddenly wished they were actually sailing on a ship in the ocean, just the two of them alone with the surf and the stars. 

Ben opened the hatch, and they climbed down a ladder into the hull of the ship. Lanterns hung from the rafters (powered by battery-operated candles instead of real ones, for obvious safety reasons).

“It’s not too fancy down here,” Ben said, grabbing one of the lanterns so they could go exploring. “Definitely a simplified version of a real ship, but it’s still pretty cool. Sometimes we’ll host little dances down here during the faire; Poe’s sea shanty performances are very popular.”

He opened a set of double doors into a small room with a desk, a chair, an old-fashioned globe, and a wide window that looked out over the lake. 

“These are the captain’s quarters,” he said, setting the lantern on the desk and casting shadows around the room. “Don’t tell anybody, but sometimes if I need a moment of quiet during the faire I’ll sneak down here to hide for a few minutes.”

Rey held a finger to her lips. “Your secret is safe with me, Captain. Although I can’t promise that I’ll never try to sneak down here and join you.”

Ben grinned wickedly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. “Perhaps I’d like that.”

Rey’s heart beat faster as she looked up into his deep brown eyes and felt the boat swaying gently back and forth. She felt suddenly unsteady, in a way that had nothing to do with the movement of the boat itself. 

“I fear that you, sir, are a scoundrel,” she teased him. “But luckily for you, I like scoundrels very, very much.”

Ben swept her off her feet and sat her on the desk in front of him, pushing the maps and books out of the way. It all felt deliciously scandalous, to hide down here together in a pretend pirate ship with only minutes to go until midnight. 

He ran his fingers through her hair, gently loosening her braided updo and allowing her wavy hair to fall down her shoulders. 

“I think I love you, Ben Solo,” she whispered, and then she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Part of her was still a little afraid to be that vulnerable, and gift Ben with a phrase that she’d never said to another person before. One of her professors once commented that “I love you” were the three riskiest words in the universe, because in saying them, you exposed your heart to be broken and surrendered control of a part of yourself to someone else. Once uttered, the phrase “I love you” couldn’t be unsaid; in a way it bound you forever to that other person, even if you later decided to go your separate ways. 

Yet Rey was not ashamed by how much she needed and wanted Ben, and she no longer had the power to hide how deeply she loved him. 

Ben pulled back for just a moment, still processing the words she’d said to him. His eyes were shining with warmth and light, and his little roguish hint of a smile was driving her wild. 

“I love you, Rey,” he replied, and she loved the way the words locked into place, binding their hearts together. 

Maybe she did believe in soulmates after all. 


	10. Epilogue – All’s Well that Ends Well

_Three years later…_

Rey tried her best to talk Ben into having a medieval-themed wedding. 

After all, they’d met through the Pinewood Renaissance Faire, so how much fun would it be to have an actual Ren Faire wedding, with costumes, period-appropriate music, and of course all those amazing pastries and other foods from the faire?

However, as it turned out, Ben had an even more elaborate idea. Since they both wanted a small, intimate wedding with just their closest family members and friends, Ben proposed a destination wedding at a castle in Europe. 

Rey never would have imagined that she’d get to live out a fairy-tale: marrying the man of her dreams in a real castle. She’d actually cried when the plane landed in Edinburgh, Scotland, and she saw the castle sitting on a hill in the heart of the city. Even though she’d lived in London for most of her life, she’d never been able to afford a trip up here. This was just one of the many precious gifts Ben had given to her, but honestly, she’d have been just as happy getting married anywhere. The most important part was the commitment they were making to each other. 

Rey and Finn had both graduated with honors the spring after their first Ren Faire volunteer experience. Though they hadn’t necessarily planned to, they both ended up staying in the town of Pinewood. Amilyn Holdo hired Finn full-time at The Spark Café as a chef, and he became a local legend for his decadent dessert creations. His Ren Faire-inspired chocolate cinnamon pastry was so popular it was almost always sold out, no matter how many he made each morning. 

Amilyn also bought The Scavenger’s Boutique next door to the café, and she hired Ben and Rey to manage the thrift store, with the end goal of them buying her out and running the store on their own as soon as they could raise the money. 

Ben and Rey spent most of their free nights and weekends fixing up The Scavenger’s Boutique, but they didn’t mind. Rey loved seeing how their hard work transformed the store and helped it reach its full potential. Rose painted a mural of the Pinewood Renaissance Faire along one of the walls, and Rey enjoyed driving all across the state scavenging antiques and other thrifted items to offer in the store. 

She and Ben also created a website for the store, and soon they were receiving orders from all across the world. They weren’t getting rich and life as small business owners meant money was often tight, but they were in love and impossibly happy, and that mattered far more than the numbers on their paycheck. 

It could have been a bit awkward for Ben to finish up his master’s degree in the same department Snoke taught in, but thankfully, Snoke surprised everyone by announcing that he was leaving the university and accepting a consulting position at First Order Tech. Neither Ben nor Rey were sorry to see him go.

Rey enjoyed getting to know Ben’s mother, Professor Leia Organa, better, and Leia instantly welcomed her into the family. Rey, Finn, and Rose continued to get even more involved in the Ren Faire during their time in Pinewood, and when Rose opened up her own mechanics shop, Tico Auto Repair, she became one of the faire’s official sponsors and even built a fancy carriage for guests at the faire to ride around in. 

***

The morning of Rey and Ben’s wedding, the skies over Edinburgh were overcast and the weather was drizzly, but Rey didn’t mind. By the time the afternoon rolled around and it was time to start getting ready for their sunset wedding, a gentle breeze had chased all the gloomy clouds away. 

The wedding party was small — Rey had picked Finn and Rose as her attendants, and Ben had asked Poe and Hux. The only other guest was Leia, who was also officiating the wedding. 

Rey had debated for a long time what style of wedding dress she wanted to wear (Ben had raised an eyebrow when she’d joked that she could just wear her tavern manager costume from the Ren Faire). In the end, Hux had helped her design a flowing ivory fairy gown with a beaded corset and a flower crown made from delicate pink flowers. And as a little nod to her Ren Faire experience, she wore the earrings that Hux had given her years ago — exact copies of the earrings she wore with her costume. 

The actual ceremony would take place on an overlook with a gorgeous view of the surrounding city, and as Rey finished getting dressed and made the long walk up the hill, she reflected on all the events that had brought her here, to this moment. 

She couldn’t believe she was this blessed, or this happy. It was so funny to think of that moment three years ago when she and Ben had bickered at the first Ren Faire meeting, and she was convinced at the time that she’d hated him. She was very thankful the universe had given them a second chance, and that once they’d quit arguing, they’d realized just how perfect they were for each other. 

As Rey rounded a corner and spotted Ben, her breath caught. He was dressed in a simple but perfectly tailored suit, with a tie made from the same fabric as his pirate coat from the Ren Faire. Their eyes locked, and he stared at her in wonder. She eventually had to look away, because he was starting to cry and if she stared at him any longer she was going to start crying too and send rivers of mascara streaming down her face (she really should have splurged on some waterproof makeup). 

Rey stopped next to Ben and took both his hands in hers, her heart pounding not from nervousness but from excitement. She was so ready to marry this intelligent, sweet, gentle, handsome, wonderful man, and then spend the rest of their lives living happily ever after. 

THE END 


End file.
